Kraig Markland received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Life Chiropractic College, a postgraduate degree in forensics from the National University of Heath Sciences. He retired from private practice, started a second career working as a tissue recovery tech at Iowa Donor Network, and earned his CTBS. At Live On Nebraska, he was a Professional Outreach Specialist and coordinated recovery activities with funeral professionals, law enforcement investigators, and pathologists. He has also completed a Medicolegal Death Investigator course and has received a Mortuary Science degree. Currently working at Tennessee Donor Services as a Funeral Home/Medical Examiner Liaison.  

Chas MacKenzie is a member of the Tissue Donation Services (TDS) leadership team at New England Donor Services. Chas supervises the Hospital Development Strategist (TDS) team maintaining collaborative relationships with 105 smaller service area hospitals. Chas also supervises the funeral home & medical examiner manager for all New England states. Chas is responsible for planning, development, implementation and evaluation of strategic donation development activities in support of the vision, goals and objectives of New England Donor Services for maximizing organ and tissue donation.  Chas began his work in organ and tissue donation at Hartford Organ Procurement Organization as an organ and tissue recovery specialist in 1992.

Dr. Thompson has been medical director at AlloSource for over 17 years.  He is actively involved with the Physician's Council and was chair for two 2 year terms. He has served on other AATB committees including the Standards committee and the emerging infectious subcommittee of the STAC.  His primary role at AlloSource is reviewing donor records to determine donor eligibility.  

Emily L. Carter, CTBS, CEBT, is the Senior Account Manager for Donor Services at LeMaitre, Inc. Based in Salem, Massachusetts, she has steadily advanced her career in tissue recovery since 2015. Emily is an active member of the AATB community, contributing to the AATB RADE council and Education Committee, with a focus on providing diverse educational resources. Her current role spans the nation, where she oversees cardiovascular field training, tissue partner webinars, and serves as a vital link between tissue leaders and recovery teams. With a diverse medical background, Emily excels in communication with all stakeholders in the organ, eye and tissue donation industry.

Katie Hanzlicek is the Operations Manager at JRF Ortho where she supports supplier relationships, balances osteochondral allograft supply and demand, and manages the company quality systems. Katie began her career in tissue banking in 2012 as an Operations Technician at AlloSource and became CTSB certified in 2013. She gained hands-on experience in allograft tissue production, cleansing, and packaging, as well as product development, quality management, and technical writing. Katie co-authored two patents (currently pending) on rapid allograft treatment. She completed her Master of Business Administration degree with a specialization in Change Management in 2020 at the University of Colorado, aligning her passions in science and business.

TBD

Emmitt A. Savannah, III serves as the Manager of Tissue Recovery and Research Training at LifeGift Organ Donation Center, where he provides leadership, supervision, development and implementation of training programs for LifeGift in all its Texas regions that reinforce accepted industry practices and comply with organizational operating procedures, AATB standards, and FDA regulations. Emmitt has worked in the donation industry for over 14 years, and is passionate about leading, training, educating and developing people and teams as well as developing the programs in which they work to achieve goals efficiently.

Dana Owens, CEBT, is the Director of Tissue Recovery for Eversight.  Dana began her healthcare career as an EMT and Medic in the United States Army.  Soon after, she found her calling and purpose within the world of eye banking.  Dana has been involved in eye banking as a recovery technician, recovery manager, business development, research recovery development, and distribution manager and has been the Director of Tissue Recovery since 2022.  Dana currently serves as the Vice-Chair for the EBAA Technician Education Committee. 

Taylor began working at AlloSource in 2017 as a ProcessingTechnician in the Skin department.  She quickly worked her way up and intoa Technical Expert role.  From there, she has progressed to the MatricesProduction Lead and is now a Lead Production Coordinator. Whennot working, Taylor loves to do anything outdoors.  She spends a lot oftime camping and fishing.  It is important that she keeps moving, so youwill often find her out running or spending time in the gym.  She alsolikes to hang out with her fur babies, cook, and read.

 Taylorhas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, with a minor in Chemistry.

Alli Reilly currently works as a Tissue Family Services Coordinator at Infinite Legacy, supporting families through Tissue and Eye donation in Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia. She has also worked in ICUs throughout Maryland supporting families of Organ, Tissue and Eye donation as an Organ Family Services Coordinator. She has 5 years of experience in donation, and prior to her time in our industry, was a Certified Child Life Specialist for 13 years supporting pediatric patients and their families in Radiation Oncolgy and Adolescent Medicine at Johns Hopkins and in Pediatic Oncology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Alli holds a master's degree in Applied Developmental Psychology. When not supporting donor families, she likes being outside at the baseball field or driving range with her son and husband, or hiking and riding bikes with her daughter. 

Corinne is the Executive Director, Chief Operations Officer, and Treasurer of the Anatomy Gifts Registry (AGR), a non-profit whole body donation program. AGR is one of the accredited Non-transplant Anatomic Donation Organizations, or NADOs. Corinne has over 12 years of experience in non-transplant tissue banking ranging from donor family services through research client services and executive management. Corinne has been active in the AATB Ad-Hoc committee, recently turned council, working on the physical assessment and risk assessment guidance documents, among other projects. 

Corinne has Bachelor's and Master's of Science degrees in human nutrition, focusing on clinical nutrition and epidemiology, and has completed her clinical dietetic internship at the University of Maryland,Medical Center, and holds a Registered Dietitian (RD) credential, and has been a Certified Tissue Banking Specialist (CTBS) since 2009.

Stephen has served as Associate General Counsel to Gift of Life Donor Program (“GLDP”) for more than 14 years. He advises GLDP on a variety of issues including regulatory compliance, contracting, litigation and government relations. 

Lindsay has been a dedicated professional in tissue banking for the past 16 years, currently serving as the Director of Tissue Services and Supply Chain for the Indiana Donor Network. With extensive experience in tissue recovery, regulatory compliance, supply chain management, and leadership. Certified as a CTBS since 2009, Lindsay holds a Bachelor of Arts from Ball State University and a Master of Business Administration with a focus on Healthcare Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Joel continues to lead the DCI Donor Services to record-breaking tissue recovery milestones. He is most proud of the innovations and progress his team has made in streamlining procedures that reduce redundancy and increase efficiency while improving benchmarks for recovery metrics. He began his career at Mississippi Organ Recovery Organization, then served at Donor Network West and LifeShare of Oklahoma.

 As past Chair of the AOPO Tissue Council, Joel made it his mission to increase collaboration among tissue recovery organizations. Joel is a graduate of the Art and Science of Leadership program at Wharton’s School of Business and earned a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Exercise Physiology from Mississippi State University. Joel is a proud veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

With over a decade of dedication to the Indiana Donor Network, Sara serves as the Director over Vital Link Donation Center and Logistics. Prior to this role, her career was rooted in healthcare operations at two of Indiana’s major health systems. Sara earned her Master’s in Public Health from Purdue University and hold a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton—go Flyers!

Carter Bright is an accomplished Value Stream Manager with a strong background in business analytics, data visualization, and supply chain transformation. With an MBA from the University of Florida and a degree in Chemical Engineering, Carter has led high-impact projects for Fortune 500 companies, including Procter & Gamble, WestRock, and Keurig Dr Pepper. His expertise spans process optimization, cost reduction, and sustainability. Carter is passionate about leveraging data-driven decision-making to drive operational excellence and innovation.

Elise Oliver is the Weekend Manager of the Tissue Processing Laboratory at Artivion. She manages a weekend team to ensure donated cardiovascular tissue received at Artivion is processed within appropriate timelines and in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. Elise graduated from Georgia State University with her Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2009 and began her career at Artivion (formerly CryoLife) in 2010.

Rodney Cruz began his career in healthcare as a respiratory therapist in 2005. After joining LifeGift in 2011 as a bedside donor coordinator, he precepted clinical staff and developed training curricula. Transitioning to the Transplant Center Liaison role, he focused on transplant center relations, data interpretation, and process improvement. In 2019, he was nominated with the development of LifeGift's simulation program. Today, Rodney continues to play a pivotal role in enhancing organ donation practices and healthcare education through his leadership in simulation training and process improvement, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to saving lives and empowering healthcare professionals.

After earning a BS in microbiology from McNeese State University and finishing up 6 years as a special operations forward air controller in the Louisiana Air National Guard, Kip Hanks began employment with the FDA as a field investigator in 1997. After a few years as a generalist covering multiple FDA-regulated products, he became a district biologics specialist and then the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) biologics national expert. In this role, Kip was responsible for providing regulatory and guidance interpretation and application to ORA staff, training and mentoring new investigators, serving on policy and document workgroups and advising ORA senior leadership on biologics-related matters. In July 2021, he joined the American Association of Tissue Banks as its first director of regulatory and governmental affairs. In this role, Kip establishes and communicates the AATB official position regarding regulatory issues that may impact AATB member organizations to the FDA and other applicable governmental and standard-setting organizations. He provides expert interpretation, guidance, strategy and counsel on existing laws, regulations, standards, and guidance that impact AATB members.

Tricia Samaniego Martinez currently serves as a Senior Advisor for the Office of Biologics Inspectorate (OBI), Immediate Office, within the Office of Inspections and Investigations at the US Food and Drug Administration. After receiving her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Texas A&M University, she joined the FDA as an Investigator. She has worked in the Houston and San Antonio offices conducting inspections and investigations in the Biologics, Human and Animal Drug, and Bioresearch Monitoring programs, in both the domestic and foreign arenas.

Tricia most recently served as the Division Director of Investigations where she was responsible for leading a team of managers and investigators, primarily located in the western half of the US, during a time of quickly evolving technologies in the biologics industry. The staff under her management conducted inspections and investigations of establishments handling biological products, including blood and blood components, Source Plasma, and human cell, tissue, and cellular based tissue products.
As a Senior Advisor, she is responsible for working directly with OBI management, as well as cross-organizational leadership in developing, recommending, and coordinating operational priorities, activities and resources to ensure consistency and optimization throughout the program. In addition, she is responsible for advising OBI leadership on emerging and precedent-setting issues, representing OBI on Agency level work groups and leading multiple trainings.