Educating Families About Research (Individual)

Supporting families before, during, and after donation is a process of continuous and compassionate education. As research becomes a larger part of the donation landscape, it is critical that the professionals who work with donor families be able to fully explain how a gift could be used for research. Rather than letting a donor family envision a vague and perhaps frightening use of their loved one’s gifts, donation professionals can demystify what research is. Knowing the extensive touch to the lives of many and potential discoveries further strengthens a family’s support of donation and pride in the legacy of their loved one.

Deborah Hutt, MS

Director, Donor Family Services

Deborah has been with LifeNet Health since 2011 beginning her career as a Family Support Coordinator, working with families in the hospital at the time of their loved one’s death. She approached families for donation, provided education on donation, completed all necessary paperwork, and supported the family until their loved one went for procurement. In 2014 Deborah became the Manager for Donor Family Services and was promoted to Director of Donor Family Services in 2015. Prior to coming to LifeNet Health, Deborah served as Director of Children’s Ministries Family Ministries at two local churches and led a team of consultants in direct sales as an Advanced Director. Prior to that, she was an elementary guidance counselor with Norfolk Public Schools implementing the guidance program, writing curriculum, and securing grants to provide additional services to students within the school.

Deborah earned her Master of Science in Education from Old Dominion University and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Radford University. She is an active member of the AATB Donor Family Services Council and the AOPO Donor Family Services Council.

Sinead Gallagher

Manager of Donor Eligibility and Logistic

BioTissue

Sinead serves as the Manager of Donor Eligibility and Logistics at BioTissue since 2021 in Miami, Florida. She oversees all donor eligibility and tissue suitability aspects, tissue procurement policies, training, and management of critical supplies for acquisition. She reviews and evaluates performance metrics of tissue acquisition partners and is a seasoned AOC responsible for screening potential birth mother donors.

This New Jersey native is passionate about stewarding the gift of life and providing education about birth tissue donation. A Surgical tech by trade, Sinead is a Certified Tissue Bank Specialist and has been in tissue banking since 2013. She has a mixed bag of experience in both living and deceased donation.