MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute Participates in White House Organ Summit

MGTI Physicians Meet Other National Experts to Discuss Challenges and Solutions

(Washington, D.C.,) Three physicians from the MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute traveled to the White House today for the Obama Administration’s Organ Summit aimed at setting new strategies to increase access to organ transplants and shorten the organ waiting list. MGTI executive director Thomas Fishbein, MGTI director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, Matthew Cooper and MGTI transplant surgeon Jason Hawksworth met with members of the Obama Administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Economic Council plus experts from transplant centers nationwide as well as patient advocacy groups, private companies and foundations to discuss the challenges and possible solutions to what the Administration calls an “organ crisis.”

“The numbers are staggering,” said Dr. Fishbein. “Today, more than 120-thousand people are on the list for a life-saving organ and by tonight 22 people will die waiting. We know that 95-percent of Americans support organ donation, but only half are registered as organ donors. We need to work with professionals not only in the medical community but with those in information technology, social media, government and private organizations to close this gap. As a large and busy transplant center here on the East Coast, I’m pleased that MedStar Georgetown was recognized to be part of this important discussion.”

In addition to increases in government funding and exciting new research, participants discussed the use of social media to reach out to more and younger people to express their wishes about becoming organ donors.