IIAM News

Organ and tissue donation is a life-saving and life-enhancing act made by families who have lost a loved one…

Everyone who reads this story is engaged in a noble cause; but it’s also a business. With more demand than ever for research organs, specifically livers, the decisions made by OPOs and the partnerships they forge can impact outcomes and future expectations.

Carolina Donor Services (CDS) is ideally positioned to provide non-transplantable organs to one of the most prominent research hubs in the U.S. Early in 2019, IIAM partnered with leadership at the OPO to maximize the placement of more organs for medical research.

Based on suggestions from our partners, IIAM has continued to make system upgrades that improve our entire referral process — the latest of which enables any referring OPO to update referrals electronically.

To properly manage the increase in referrals, IIAM promoted Brian Bush to Team Leader and expanded its Placement Coordinator team to a total of 15 people.

IIAM is proud to announce that Placement Coordinator Andrea Haines received the 10th annual Hero Award, which was presented by the Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD).

As 2020 unfolds, we review the significance of major research initiatives from the past year and renew our commitment to strengthening the partnerships that have led to these achievements.

This is the story of the Purdy family, parents Lacy and Ethan and their daughter Maddie, who worked with the staff at We Are Sharing Hope SC, the South Carolina Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) for organ and tissue recovery services in SC, and in collaboration with Greenville Memorial Hospital.

In collaboration with the American Association of Tissue Banks and their 2019 AATB Webinar Series, we are proud to post “All About Neonates” representing IIAM’s experience as a facilitator of neonatal donation…

Driven by one family’s determination for a positive outcome after receiving a terminal diagnosis of their prenatal baby, IIAM sought to help and, in the process, established its Neonatal Donation Program.

IIAM is pleased to welcome Katie Larnard and Caitlin Touhey, who recently completed their training and are independent per-diem Placement Coordinators.

We are pleased to report that, as of December 2018, Electronic Screening and eReferrals and have been operational — greatly reducing the time IIAM staff spends talking on the phone and inputting data.

IIAM’s Research Recovery Workshops, now in its 12th year, took place at the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency (LOPA) in Covington, LA, and Donor Alliance (CORS) in Denver, CO in March and August, respectively.

Expecting parents who receive a fatal diagnosis for their baby can be overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation. IIAM’s Neonatal Donor Program, which began in 2012, has given these families an opportunity to add meaning to their babies’ all-too-brief lives.

It’s impressive enough that Lindower works countless hours as a Placement Coordinator for IIAM and a full-time Administrative Director of Kidney Transplant Services at SUNY Downstate University Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY.

In his new role as IIAM Manager, Sherer will oversee the IIAM Client Services Department in Edison, NJ, as well as the IIAM Supervisor, guiding the entire IIAM Placement Coordinator team.

In any field, making the best use of time increases an organization’s productivity, but in the area of organ procurement, time is critical. That’s why IIAM is partnering with Statline to improve our electronic capabilities and make our referral, screening and placement processes much more efficient and accurate.

In both 2016 and 2017, LifeGift placed more than 60 organs for research — demonstrating the OPO’s ongoing commitment to cultivating relationships that foster this important scientific field.

For the third consecutive year, the Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency in Miami, FL, hosted IIAM’s Research Recovery Workshop in January.

In every eJournal issue we talk about partnerships among IIAM, OPOs, researchers and donor families, but our current lead story epitomizes that collaboration.

Before pharmaceutical companies can introduce new products to market, they follow rigorous protocols to ensure safety and efficacy.

This year, IIAM marked a decade of conducting Research Recovery Workshops. Designed to train OPO staff in best surgical practices for organ and tissue recovery, these biannual events have been directly responsible for a dramatic rise in the number and percentage of usable organs and tissue for medical research — especially since 2010.

Although this story is intended to introduce our new regional director, Amberly Jones, many of our readers in the OPO and research community are already familiar with her.

Of the 1,400 patients currently awaiting lung transplantation in the U.S., nearly 200 patients will not receive a transplant in time. With approximately 400,000 new cases of end-stage lung disease diagnosed annually, the need for expanding the deceased lung donor pool is vital.

The Washington Regional Transplant Community (WRTC) in Washington, DC, has increased the number of organs recovered for medical research from 38 in 2010 to a high of 152 in 2015.

After a transcendent experience participating in the 2016 Rose Parade, IIAM made its second appearance at the 2017 showcase event, along with another neonatal donor family.

Not long ago, the prospect of creating artificial organs bordered on science fiction. Due to the efforts of bioengineering research companies like Samsara Sciences and Organovo, that fantasy is coming closer to reality.

Over the past year, Donor Network of Arizona (DNA) has seen a dramatic increase in referrals for non-transplantable organs and tissue for research. As of the end of August, the OPO, located in Phoenix, AZ, had referred 198 organs. At that rate, DNA would reach 300 referrals, compared to 203 in all of 2015.

IIAM is pleased to introduce the newest additions to our Placement Coordinator team, all of whom were hired in 2016. With the volume of referrals from OPOs steadily increasing, this expansion ensures that IIAM can offer full service and eliminate lag time by promptly activating screening and placement of organs and tissue for research.

Many families who receive a non-survivable diagnosis for their baby during pregnancy inquire about organ donation. Too often, they’re told there are no options. In 2012, with the commitment of an exceptional couple, a team of OPO staff and medical professionals, IIAM helped shatter that perception.

IIAM’s 30th anniversary is a time to reflect over past milestones and achievements, as well as a time to reaffirm our commitment to being partners in new, cutting-edge developments.

Bethany Conkel Helps Raise Awareness for Neonatal Donation.

View the story of Amalya Nathaniel Conkel, the neonatal baby whose donations provided precious gifts to medical research and led to the beginning of IIAM’s Neonatal Donor Program.

IIAM has established a Neonatal Donor Program to provide neonatal organs and tissues for medical research, education and development. These donors range in age from 5 months gestation to 1 month old, many whom have terminal diagnoses, and are able to be considered for organ/tissue donation for transplant and/or medical research upon death from natural causes. IIAM’s Neonatal Donor Program offers this unique service to the research community and to families of babies with terminal diagnoses. In addition to neonatal tissue, IIAM continues to provide non-transplantable organs/tissues from organ transplant donors where authorization for research use has been granted.

After more than 25 years of serving Gift of Body donor families with respect and compassion, effective September 15, 2013, IIAM no longer offers our Anatomical/Gift of Body Program.

IIAM conducted a poster presentation about its new Neonatal Donation Program at the annual NATCO meeting, August 10-13, 2013 in San Diego, CA. The donor family spent months contacting hospitals and facilities they hoped would assist with their desire for donation and were met with opposition.

In January 2012, IIAM’s Anatomical Division was acquired by a new partner, Platinum Training. Under the terms of the agreement, IIAM will continue to provide donor family services for its Gift of Body program to families throughout the U.S., working with organ and tissue recovery agencies, hospices and funeral homes.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has awarded the International Institute for the Advancement of Medicine (IIAM) the Humane Seal of Approval. PCRM noted, “IIAM’s organs and tissues are invaluable, allowing scientists to perform humane and effective research.”

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the International Institute for the Advancement of Medicine (IIAM). With offices in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada, IIAM has been serving the medical and scientific communities in the U.S. and abroad by providing non- transplantable human organs and anatomical specimens that are authorized for the purposes of research, education and development.

IIAM was invited to present information about its work at a 1-day conference in the House of Lords focusing on increasing access to human organs and tissues for research in the United Kingdom, October 2009. As a follow-up to the presentation, IIAM was asked to write a paper for inclusion in the September edition of the “Journal of Cell & Tissue Banking”

IIAM’s website received the Aesculapius Award of Excellence in communication of health information to the public about human organs and tissues for research.