Walter began working with LifeCell in 2003. He currently holds the position of Sr. Regional Field Manager. In this capacity, Walter works with a number of tissue banks and organ procurement organizations throughout the Central and Southern United States. He is responsible for the coordination of tissue procurement, on-site training, technical and material support, and manages and oversees the LifeCell National on Call Coordinators.  Walter is a Certified Surgical Technologist, Certified Tissue Banking Specialist, and an active member of the American Association of Tissue Banks.

Haydee Barno is the Director of Education at the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and is responsible for the management and execution of educational programs and the Certified Tissue Bank Specialist program. Prior to joining AATB, Haydee was the Director of Education at the American College of Clinical Pharmacology, a professional society dedicated to advancing the science of clinical pharmacology and to engage in educational efforts in the interest of Members, the clinical pharmacology community, and the public. During her tenure, Haydee was responsible for directing the planning and execution of the society’s continuing medical and pharmacy education programs. Haydee has been in the non-profit sector for over 20 years holding different positions including continuing education and certification programs.

Haydee earned her law degree from the Universidad Americana of Managua (UAM) and earned her MBA at Strayer University in Washington, DC. She is fluent in English and Spanish.

A veteran of medical products distribution and healthcare group purchasing, Whit Harvey has spent over 20 years anticipating critical needs and delivering proven solutions to every class of healthcare provider. As Senior Director of Supply Chain Contracting at Blood Centers of America (BCA), Whit is tasked with developing national supplier relationships, negotiating and implementing group purchasing agreements, while driving contract compliance within blood center, tissue bank, and organ procurement organizations across the country. His efforts allow BCA & AATB member establishments to benefit through cost reduction, supply chain risk mitigation solutions, and unmatched support, enabling them to successfully acquire essential products, at best-in-class pricing, from the most sought after suppliers. 

Alyssa Harrison serves as the VP of Tissue Operations at LifeShare Network. She has been in the donation industry for over 10 years, starting at United Tissue Network, a non-transplant domination organization.  In her current role, she oversees all aspects of Tissue Recovery and Donation Services, including day-to-day management, donor assessment and evaluation, organization policy, procedure protocol application, training, strategic planning, and administrative duties. She reviews and evaluates all performance metrics and key performance indicators with a primary focus on identifying opportunities for improvement and growth for both departments.  She works as an executive leader to develop and execute strategic plans and annual operative and capital budgets.

Alyssa is a Certified Tissue Banking Specialist and is an active member of AATB, having served on numerous committees, councils, and the Board of Governs. 

She has earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Adult Education and a Master of Business Administration.

Patrick began his career in tissue banking in 2004 as a per-diem tissue recovery technician at Central Florida Tissue Bank. During his tenure at the Central Florida Tissue Bank in addition to tissue recovery, he assumed many roles which included taking referrals, evaluating potential donors, obtaining authorization and tissue processing. In 2007, Patrick joined New England Organ Bank as a full time Tissue Surgical Recovery Coordinator moving quickly into a supervisory role within the next year. Currently, Patrick is Director, Tissue Recovery.  In this role he has been instrumental in improving training procedures and standards of practice working diligently to retain staff and build strong cohesive teams.

Chris has over 30 years of experience in the tissue donation industry, primarily in the areas of tissue recovery, donor screening, program development and quality assurance/auditing.  He has been certified by AATB (American Association of Tissue Banks) for over 25 years.

During his career he has created and led multiple award-winning MS, Skin CV and SV recovery programs. Chris participated in the joint AATB/EBAA/AOPO/NFDA Task Force on Funeral Director relationships and helped create the Best Practices document. He currently serves on the AATB Standards Committee and is the sub-committee chair for the RADE Council Track for the AATB Annual Meeting.

He also has two tissue recipients in his family-his mom and his wife who received FLEX HD following breast reconstruction after breast cancer-the same month he started with MTF! Chris, Karen and their two special needs adult children-Alexandra and Jack, reside just outside of Ft. Worth, TX.  When not at work, Chris serves on the State of Texas Committee on Special Needs as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the local chapter of Meals on Wheels.   Chris also regularly instructs adults and children in martial arts.  He also builds and flies radio-controlled model aircraft, bow hunts and plays golf, albeit poorly...

Dr. Emily Duncanson is a cardiovascular and forensic pathologist. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School. She completed an anatomic pathology residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan and a two-year forensic pathology fellowship at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York, including a year of forensic cardiovascular pathology. She has been a cardiovascular pathologist at the Jesse E Edwards Registry of Cardiovascular Disease since 2008 along with Dr. Shannon Mackey-Bojack. The Registry pathologists examine almost 2000 postmortem cardiac specimens per year, including over 1500 post-valve recovery donor hearts. 

 Dr. Karl E. Williams is a life-long Pittsburgher, graduating as valedictorian from South Hills High School, in 1965, and subsequently being inducted into its Hall of Fame for Medicine/Science. His passions are his family, (son, Michael), music, literature, sailing, France and Armagnac!

 At Oberlin College, his undergraduate years were spent pursuing a major in Biology and a minor in Religion.

Following Oberlin, he attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (Class of 1974), where he worked as a bench scientist at Mellon Institute and won an essay award from the Pennsylvania Medical Society.

Following graduation with a MD degree, he completed an internship in Washington DC Veteran’s Administration Hospital and Georgetown University Hospital. He then worked four years as an Emergency Room physician in Scranton, before returning to residency programs in Pathology at Allegheny General Hospital under the directorship of Dr. Robert Hartsock, and at Shadyside Hospital, under the directorship Dr. Edwin Fisher.

After completing his training in Pathology, he was employed for two years at the Coroner’s Office of Allegheny County. 

The science of Pathology holds the keys to understanding the most complex diseases and discrepancies of the body. It is also central to resolving Medicolegal issues in Forensic Pathology.

Karl is triple boarded in Anatomic, Clinical and Forensic Pathology, as well as having a Master’s in Public Health, from the Graduate School of Public Health of the University of Pittsburgh, in Occupational/Environmental Medicine.

Before becoming Allegheny County’s first appointed Medical Examiner, he was the Laboratory Director of Ellwood City Hospital, as well as the Medical Director of that hospital’s Occupational Medicine division. He was, additionally, Director of a high-tech start up medical biotech research and lab which performed testing of malignancies for the purpose of evaluating chemotherapy options.  

The Office of the Medical Examiner is one of the rare facilities in the country to have the complete set of Crime Laboratories integrated with its morgue and Death Scene Investigation System.

The collaboration of these two aspects of investigation can be applied in novel issues in Public Health, such the current drug overdose epidemic ravaging the country, as well as to frontier areas such as the use of DNA in the court system.

Some prominent cases that Karl has been involved with during his career include the crash of USAir 427 in 1995, the arrest and conviction of the Ross Township serial rapist, the cyanide poisoning of a local physician by her husband and the Tree of Life Synagogue slayings.

For the past decade one of his principal concerns have been with the on-going drug overdose epidemic. He works with the Pitt School of Pharmacy in creating and maintaining a unique resource Overdose Free PA.

Dr. Hammers is a Board Certified Anatomic, Clinical and Forensic Pathologist who performs autopsies and teaches the Forensic Pathology course for the fifth-year students in the Master of Anthropology Program at Boston University and the Master of Forensic Science and Law Program at Duquesne University. Dr. Hammers has a particular interest in cardiac pathology and actively participates in research related to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). After training in forensic pathology in at the New York City Medical Examiner’s office, she worked for several years in Massachusetts and New York City. Dr. Hammers then accepted a position in a private practice located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she worked for over five years before establishing Jennifer Hammers Pathology, which serves several counties in Western Pennsylvania by providing autopsy services. Dr. Hammers also performs autopsies and medical legal consultations at the request of families and attorneys.

As the Westmoreland County coroner, Timothy Carson is responsible for investigating the facts and circumstances of deaths that occur within the county, regardless of where the cause thereof may have occurred. The purpose of the investigation shall be to determine the cause of death and manner of death. He is also responsible for determining whether or not there is sufficient reason to believe that any such death may have resulted from criminal acts or criminal neglect of persons other than the deceased.

Timothy Carson worked in the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office from 2000-2011 as the Director of Community Affairs and Grant Coordinator. He served as Chief Deputy in the Register of Wills Office from 2011-2012. Timothy is a 1989 graduate of Southmoreland High School and 1993 graduate of Waynesburg College. He resides in Scottdale and has three daughters and two sons.

Call 2-1-1 for Social Services. Help Starts Here. 

Jonathan has worked in the tissue banking and donation field for 15 years holding roles in tissue recovery and leadership. Jonathan is currently the Associate Director of Tissue Acquisition at Lonza where he supports Lonza’s various divisions engaged in research and clinical applications utilizing human organs, tissues, and cells. Prior to joining Lonza, Jonathan served as the Director of Education at AATB where he led the development of educational programming and webinars just like this one.

Jonathan is an active member of the AATB Recovery and Donor Eligibility Council, International Association of Coroners & Medical Examiners Board of Directors and Advocacy Committee, and the National Association of Medical Examiners Ad-Hoc Organ and Tissue Procurement Committee.

 Jonathan earned his undergraduate degree in communications, a master’s degree of science in management, and is a Certified Tissue Bank Specialist and a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Kristen joined Miracles in Sight in 2019 as the Vice President of Client Relations.  She has over 23 years of eye banking experience focusing on clinical operations, technician training, process improvement, and new service line development.  She is a Certified Eye Bank Technician (CEBT) and Certified Tissue Bank Specialist (CTBS).  She has served on numerous Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) committees and sub-committees over the years including the Technician Education Committee, the Certification Board, and Research Committee. Kristen has served as faculty for the EBAA Technician Education Symposium and Slit Lamp Course.  Kristen holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton and a Masters of Health and Human Services Administration from St. Mary’s University in Minnesota.

Kelly Keyes is a Research Forensic Scientist at RTI International in the Center for Forensic Science Advancement and Application, following a 25-year career as a Medicolegal Death Investigator at the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office.  She has investigated and certified thousands of cases in her career and retired as a Supervising Investigator.  She has a BS in Animal Physiology from UC San Diego, is a California POST Certified death investigator, and is a diplomat with ABMDI. Ms. Keyes is the president-elect of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners (IACME), a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) and the chair of the medicolegal death investigation subcommittee at OSAC. Her current research revolves around various aspects of medicolegal death investigation and coroner and medical examiner systems in the United States, including improving accuracy and thoroughness of data produced by these populations.

Brian Bricker began his career at the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) in 1998 as an Organ Procurement Coordinator. Brian currently serves as the Director of Clinical Operations, overseeing the Donor Referral, Recovery, and Procurement Departments. Brian is a registered nurse and a Certified Procurement Transplant Coordinator through the American Board of Transplant Certification.

Bryan A. Whitson, MD, PhD is a Professor of Surgery at Ohio State University specializing in thoracic transplant, mechanical circulatory support, and adult cardiac surgery. He directs the Section of Thoracic Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support. Additionally, he serves as the Interim Co-Director of The Ohio State University Heart and Vascular Center, Vice-Chair for Innovation and Translational Research, and the Jewel and Frank Benson Family Research Professor. Dr. Whitson has an active extramurally funded research lab and interacts with clinical house staff on the wards, in the OR, and on research projects regularly.  

Dr. Whitson completed his general surgery, surgical infectious diseases, and cardiothoracic surgery training at the University of Minnesota. His clinical and research interests include lung and heart transplantation, ex vivo organ perfusion, ECLS/ECMO, and mechanical circulatory support. He initiated the lung transplantation program at The Ohio State University in close collaboration with his pulmonary colleagues. He has spearheaded the development of the Organ Assessment and Repair Center (ARC) at OSU.

Additionally, Dr. Whitson co-directs The Collaboration for Organ Perfusion, Protection, Engineering, and Regeneration (COPPER) Laboratory at Ohio State, which brings together transplant surgery, endothelial cell biology, and biomedical engineering experts to further organ perfusion and recovery research. Dr. Whitson has 30 United States and international patents, numerous grants, and over 250 publications. He has three times been awarded the Thomas E Williams, Jr., MD, PhD Award for Excellence in Teaching from the OSU house staff and seven times received the Outstanding Achievement in Patient Service recognition from the OSU medical center.

Steve Julian, MD, MBA, CTBS is currently an Associate Medical Director with LifeNet Health in Virginia Beach, VA, and a participant in the AATB Physicians Council. He was previously a district director with the Virginia Department of Health, a physician administrator with Sentara Healthcare of Norfolk, VA, and a cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon with CV Surgical Associates in Salisbury, MD. Residency training occurred at Wake Forest University Medical Center in North Carolina, and during that time, he was involved with LifeNet in the development of techniques for heart valve recovery. He is a graduate of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and Virginia Tech. He enjoys golf, bicycling, and being with family in his time away.

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.

Sharon O’Callaghan is a Consumer Safety Officer with the Division of Inspections and Surveillance, Office of Compliance and Biologics Quality, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.  Ms. O’Callaghan has a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. Prior to joining FDA, she worked at a community hospital as a bench tech and supervisor in all areas of the laboratory.  She joined the FDA in 1988 as a medical technologist. Ms. O’Callaghan has managed the Biological Product Deviation Reporting since 1990.  She was instrumental in developing the regulation on Biological Product Deviation Reporting (21 CFR 600.14 and & CFR 606.171), which was published September 7, 2001.  She also developed two guidance documents to accompany this rule.  Ms. O’Callaghan also developed the deviation reporting system for the Human Cells, Tissues and Cellular and Tissue-Based Products (HCT/Ps) and was instrumental in developing the guidance for HCT/P deviation reporting (21 CFR 1271.350(a)). She has participated in many outreach efforts to the blood and plasma industry, the traditional biological product industry, as well as the HCT/P industry. 

Dr. Gurevich is currently an Associate Medical Director at AlloSource in Centennial, Colorado. Dr. Gurevich obtained her M.D. degree with honors and Ph.D. from the Saratov State Medical University. Dr. Gurevich completed her Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency at Colorado School of Medicine and a two-year Advanced Hematopathology fellowship at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. Dr. Gurevich was in practice in the San Diego area and then returned to Denver to complete a two-year Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine Fellowship at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.  Dr. Gurevich has an extensive research background and has publications in leading biomedical journals. Dr. Gurevich serves on the AATB Physicians Council Committee and several Physicians Council Workgroups.

Dr. Sally Alrabaa currently serves as Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of South Florida College of Medicine and is the Medical Director of LifeLink tissue bank. 

In addition, Dr. Alrabaa is the Co-Director of Organ Transplant Infectious Diseases and a member of the Infection Prevention Committee at Tampa General Hospital, a staff physician with the Florida Dept of Health, and a supervising attending physician for tuberculosis services and research.

Dr. Ho graduated St. Louis University School of Medicine and completed her anatomic and clinical pathology residency program at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Following her residency, Dr. Ho completed fellowships in Transfusion Medicine and Cytopathology at the University of Colorado. Dr. Ho has been an Associate Medical Director at AlloSource for approximately 2 1/2 years and is a Certified Tissue Bank Specialist. Dr. Ho serves on the AATB Physicians Council and the Monkey Pox Physicians Council Workgroup.