Mr. Sindaco joined AATB in 2023 as Director of Standards. Prior to joining AATB, he spent 18 years at the United States Pharmacopeia, heading operations for standards and serving as Executive Secretariat to the Council of Experts. He initially joined USP’s quality department after holding various operations, quality, and regulatory affairs leadership positions in the blood and clinical laboratory industries. Mr. Sindaco earned a B.A. in Biology from Franklin and Marshall College, an M.S. in Pharmaceutical Policy and Regulation from the University of Florida, and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. 

I am a highly driven lawyer with over a decade of experience providing guidance to senior leaders. Currently, I serve as Senior Corporate Counsel for Artivion, Inc., a publicly traded medical device company. I previously served for eleven years in the US Army in the Judge Advocate General Coprs. 

In my role at Artivion, I provide legal counsel and strategic advice across various areas of the organization, including issues relating to; data protection; document management; A.I. Governance; and compliance. I serve on Artivion’s artificial intelligence committee, corporate responsibility committee, and cybersecurity committee. 

The thoughts and opinions that I share today are mine and not that of Artivion. I am not representing Artivion on this call. 

I am a Cybersecurity and Risk Management professional with over 18 years of experience guiding organizations through complex security, compliance, and governance challenges. Currently, I serve as Cybersecurity Team Lead for Artivion, Inc., a publicly traded medical technology company. In this role, I lead the information security and risk management initiatives across Artivion’s operations in the US, EMEA, LATAM, and APAC.

I provide strategic guidance in areas such as information security governance, data protection, third-party risk management, and regulatory compliance. I also play an active role in shaping the organization’s approach to responsible technology adoption as a member of Artivion’s artificial intelligence committee, AI usage committee, and Cybersecurity Steering Committee.

The thoughts and opinions that I share today are mine and not that of Artivion. I am not representing Artivion on this call. 

Joe Shaara earned a Masters in Buisness Administration and a Bachelors in Biological Engineering. His current role is Senior Manager of Continuous Improvement at Evergen. In this role, Joe works with the leadership team to mitigate risks and clear roadblocks to achieve goals by challenging them to think differently through 1:1 coaching, team Kaizens, rapid problem-solving and continuously evolving the Lean Daily Management processes. He has more than 15 years of leadership experience, working first for Target as a Senior Operations Manager of Engineering and Facilities, where he led a team of engineers responsible for advanced material handling systems, including robotics and automated storage and retrieval systems. Prior to joining RTI, Joe held a leadership role for Thermo Fisher Viral Vector Services division within Quality Control and Operational Excellence, developing and deploying a world class quality and compliance strategic plan that applied lean, continuous improvement, and statistical process control methodologies. Throughout his tenure, Joe has coached and mentored leaders to deliver higher levels of performance using these methodologies.

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.

Kai Sprando, MA TESOL, is the Instructional Designer at Infinite Legacy. In addition to 16 years of teaching experience for both language studies and Kenpo Karate, he also has a BA in Asian Studies, a certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and Instructional Design from UMBC, a certificate in DEI from Cornell, and has spent time studying at Takushoku University in Tokyo, Japan.

He is a passionate advocate for Trans Rights and Invisible Disabilities, and seeks to make space for voices at the table that might otherwise not get an opportunity. He seeks to educate around intersectionality and provide meaningful context around what it means to be included.

 When not teaching, he can be found playing video games, practicing belly dance with his dance troop, drawing, running his small crafting business, and spending time with his chosen family.

Pam began her career at New England Donor Services (NEDS) in June of 1989 as a donation coordinator, coming to this position with ten years of transplant nursing experience in Boston.  At NEDS, she has worked as the Education Specialist/Hospital Development Coordinator, donor family liaison, Director of Tissue Operations and Aftercare Services.    In July of 2015, she took on the role of Sr. Director Tissue Donation.   In this roles see oversees she acts as a performance coach for Tissue Operations Center staff who obtain authorization/disclosure for tissue donation as well as a mentor and coach for new managers and directors in Tissue Donation Services. Pam is a faculty member for the Gift of Life Institute with a focus on tissue authorization.    Pam’s work with donor families has been recognized with the Musculoskeletal Foundation Donor Care Award as well her work in tissue donation with the American Association of Tissue Banks Jeanne C. Mowe distinguished Service Award.

Alex is a 37 year old middle school teacher and summer camp counselor. He enjoys backcountry skiing, sailing, making, and hiking. In the fall of 2023 during a paragliding class he had an accident and broke his back (and more!) leading him to become a tissue recipient. Since the accident he has been working hard on getting back out into the mountains and has been able to hike and run. 

Rod Hale, Account Executive at DPT-Eurofins—graduated magna cum laude from Utah State University in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Biology.  In 1997 he earned his Master of Science in Medical and Molecular Genetics from Indiana University.  He has 25+ years’ experience in the Human Cell & Tissue Product (HCT/P) industry, the first 12 years of which were spent at Laboratories At Bonfils (later, LABS Inc.).  Rod started on the bench, performing various immunological and molecular tests for the screening of organ, eye, tissue, and other transplant donors.  He eventually became the manager of the Infectious Disease department, where he successfully created and implemented the testing logistics that enabled the small regional lab to achieve nationwide success.  In 2010 he left LABS Inc. to be the Laboratory Manager at the start-up human-screening division of VRL, eventually becoming the Director of Operations at VRL-Eurofins, and later moving into the Account Executive role once VRL merged with LABS Inc., Inc to create DPT-Eurofins.

Please welcome Rufus Tolbert, the Multicultural Outreach Specialist at DonorConnect. Rufus has been with DonorConnect for five years, beginning his work in the transportation department and now serving in a key specialized leadership role as the organization's only Multicultural Outreach Specialist.

Rufus covers a vast region that includes all of Utah, western Wyoming, southern Idaho, and eastern Nevada. A recognized leader in his field, he has developed strategic partnerships with other nonprofit organizations, culturally specific organizations, institutions of higher education, and LGBTQ+ organizations to expand the reach and impact of donation education. His primary focus is serving underserved, under-educated, and marginalized communities. Promoting an “Education is essential” to the life-saving mission of organ, eye, and tissue donation amongst communities of color.

 Before joining DonorConnect, Rufus retired from a distinguished career in law enforcement, where he served as a Public Relations and Community Outreach Officer. That experience built the foundation for his current role—bridging trust and connection across diverse communities.

 His innovative and forward-thinking ideas help create opportunities for communities to learn about registering to be an organ donor and ways to change the dynamic of the historical mistrust of the health care system.

Josh Brennan spent six years as an EMS professional and was an educator for the Red Cross. Josh has been with New England Donor Services since 2008 in various roles in the Tissue Operations Department. He is currently the Director of Tissue Operations. He has published three abstract articles with the American Association of Tissue Banks and was part of the creative development team for the Hopes Heroes - Donor Family Program. He has been invited to speak at multiple workshops/conferences/webinars on various topics, including Electronic Tissue Authorization, Call Center Scheduling, Algorithmic Tissue Screening, Electronic Tissue Allocation, DRAI competency & training, and Grief Concepts. Josh is currently serving on the AATB Education Committee and was the project co-manager on the development of the Sepsis Education Online Learning Tool for the RADE Council.

Miles Kueffner currently works as a Partner Relations Manager for two musculoskeletal processors and previously led teams responsible for initial donor screening, donor family paperwork, and tissue processor allocation. Through her time in these roles, she's also been responsible for the review of donor records prior to Medical Examiner release. She has almost 15 years' experience in donation, and prior to her time in our industry, served as a high school teacher. Miles holds a master's degree in healthcare administration in addition to being CTBS certified. When not thinking about how to get donors accepted, she likes winning music trivia and interior design. 

Bravin Herring, CTBS, CEBT, is the technical trainer for Artivion Inc, based in Columbus, OH. He comes with a strong recovery background from his time at both Lifeline of Ohio and We Are Sharing Hope SC. Bravin has over 10 years of operating room and tissue banking experience. He holds a bachelor's degree in health information management from WGU and is currently working on a master's degree in education technology and instructional design. Bravin is also a member of the RADE council and an active member of the Education Committee.

Matthew “Matt” Battey is seasoned, multi-discipline, software engineer.  A Nebraska native, Matt’s graduate work saw him in the realm of secure communications and encryption, earning him a Master of Science in Computer Science.  A published author, Matt’s presented findings at medical and technical conferences.  His career path has found him in a number of industries from satellite news distribution to finance to health care.  As Solution Architect at Mid-America Transplant, Matt focuses on customer centric software solutions supporting the mission of Organ and Tissue donation.

In 2015, I began my career in tissue banking with MiMedx as a laboratory technician processing birth tissue into final tissue products. A few years later I transitioned over into their Quality Assurance department taking on a wide variety of duties from reviewing tissue processing records to managing company wide inventory of all tissue products. In 2022, I moved to Colorado and took on the role of Regulatory Affairs Coordinator at Donor Alliance. Since my time at Donor Alliance I have become a certified Quality Auditor to help better serve my role in helping to heal and save lives. 

Amanda Davis began her career in the donation industry in 2011 as a phlebotomist for blood banks. She subsequently earned her certification as a surgical technologist and assisted surgeons during procedures at a Level 1 trauma hospital. Since 2016, she has been dedicated to the tissue donation industry and currently serves as a Quality Assurance Coordinator at Donor Alliance where she is responsible for maintaining donor records to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, conducts technical reviews of donor charts and tissue recovery documentation, collects and reviews medical records, and serves as a liaison to tissue processors and affiliates for donor follow-up activities and requests. 

I began my tissue banking career in 2017 as a Tissue Processing Technician at AlloSource. I gained hands-on experience in allograft tissue production, packaging, and sterilizing. A year later I became a Tissue Processing Technician Technical Expert and trained new staff within the department. In 2021 I began my career in proteomics at SomaLogic, running assays and preparing samples from clients. During my time there I became a Senior Laboratory Associate and gained knowledge in different areas including problem solving, quality management, and time management. My journey with Donor Alliance, Inc. began in late 2024 as a Quality Management System Coordinator. Within this new role I will continue to help heal and save lives through organ and tissue donation.