Interesting Diagnoses during Donor Screening; Contraindication or not? (Individual)

Do you ever find yourself sharing a common bond with a provider on the phone who reports a rare diagnosis that you’re both unfamiliar with? As donation professionals, we are tasked with not only understanding a wide variety of medical conditions, but also investigating how they impact an individual’s ability to donate certain tissues. Join us for a deep dive into four rare diseases, where we will explore how they do – or do not – impact tissue donation and how processors view these rare diagnoses and their impact on processing the tissue gifts.

Jessica Pelletier, CTBS

Jessica Pelletier, known to her colleagues and family as Jess, is a Tissue Operations Team Leader at New England Donor Services where she began her work in the tissue donation field in 2018. Starting off as a Tissue Donation Coordinator, Jess dedicated much of her time to training and peer mentorship, becoming a member of the preceptor team and a subject matter expert in both tissue screening and the conduction of the DRAI. She has been a member of many project teams within NEDS, including the Tissue Screening Tool Redesign project which successfully incorporated an algorithmic screening method into the design of the Tissue Screening Worksheet. Before joining at NEDS, Jess worked at a medical second opinion company and also in the funeral industry. When she is not furthering the mission of tissue donation, Jess can be found spending time outdoors with her husband, two young children and beloved cats.

Caitlin Riordan, CTBS

Tissue Operations Team Lead

New England Donor Services

Caitlin Riordan, CTBS is a Team Lead in the Tissue Operations Department at New England Donor Services. She started at NEDS, then Lifechoice Donor Services, in 2013. Caitlin has a degree in Chemistry and Biology. Prior to Donation, she spent six years working in the Hospital Setting as a CNA and ED Tech. Throughout her career as a Donation Professional, Caitlin has spearheaded many Donation Development projects and initiatives in the Police, Fire, EMS, and Hospital Communities. She is currently a part of many improvement initiatives at NEDS and serves as a member of the AATB Donor Family Services Council.