The Mid-America Transplant Foundation awarded more than $550,000 in research funding in November to projects seeking to make a difference in the lifesaving impact of organ and tissue donation and transplantation. The Foundation’s Clinical Innovation Fund aims to support research that will impact transplantation within 3-5 years.

The Foundation selected two research projects.

• Dr. Varun Puri, from the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Washington University in St. Louis, is conducting a two-phase study of lung transplants. His research will begin with a retrospective analysis comparing lung transplants of donors from Mid-America Transplant to donors from other organ procurement organizations. Upon completion of the analysis, Dr. Puri and his team will develop an assessment model to predict the success rate of donor lungs.
• Drs. Joseph Gaut and Ta-Chiang Liu of the Washington University School of Medicine are seeking to increase organ availability by improving the consistency and objectivity of the evaluation of biopsy results in donor kidneys and livers by using a computer program. Drs. Gaut and Liu expect their learnings to impact the organ and tissue transplants nationwide within three years.

“Our Foundation continues to invest in research that will impact the lives of those waiting nationwide for a lifesaving organ transplant,” said Dr. Gary F. Marklin, Chief Medical Officer at Mid-America Transplant. “The projects that received funding will, undoubtedly, have an impact on transplant patients and their families.”

Clinical research projects eligible for the Clinical Innovation Fund should address the following: reduce the need for organ and tissue transplantation; increase the availability of organs and tissue for transplantation; and achieve better health and financial outcomes for transplant recipients.

The Mid-America Transplant Foundation is committed to furthering the sciences aiming to improve organ and tissue transplantation. “We developed the Clinical Innovation Fund to support clinical researchers in our service area build a body of knowledge and to develop larger research projects with larger sample sizes and greater scope,” said Kevin Lee, Executive Director of the Mid-America Transplant Foundation. “We’re excited to see how these projects will lead to saving more lives through organ and tissue donation in the coming years.”

Information about the next round of research funding is expected to be released by the Foundation in January 2018.

About Mid-America Transplant
Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For more than 40 years, it has facilitated and coordinated organ and tissue donation, and now serves 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas that together are home to 4.7 million people. It saves lives by providing expert and compassionate care for organ donors, recipients and families, and transforms the clinical processes required to recover and transplant organs and tissues. Mid-America Transplant was the first such organization in the U.S. to use an in-house operating room for organ recovery and pioneered innovative models of increasing donor registry enrollment in an effort to provide organs and tissues to those in need. It is federally designated as one of 58 such organizations in the U.S., and is the first organ procurement organization to be recognized as a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence. The Mid-America Transplant Foundation provides enhanced support to transplant patients and their families, donor families and the community. It seeks to reduce the need for organ and tissue transplantation; increase the availability of organs and tissues for those who need them; and to improve the lives of recipients and donor families. For more information, visit www.midamericatransplant.org.

"I'm honored they chose to honor Olivia,” Angela told KOLR 10, which covered the event. “She absolutely deserves it. I'm saying that because I'm her mom, but I'm also saying that because she saved five lives. She definitely deserves that honor."

Mid-America Transplant is sponsoring Olivia’s portrait, which is one of 44 floragraphs to be showcased on the Donate Life Float during the parade. The portraits represent organ and tissue donors from across the nation and are made entirely of organic floral materials, such as spices, seeds, and crushed flowers. Thousands of additional roses with personal dedications of love and remembrance also will be part of the float, which has the theme, The Gift of Time. Donor families and transplant recipients also will be riding the float.

Olivia made the decision to become an organ and tissue donor when she received her first driver’s license. She had a conversation with her mother about joining the donor registry just a few months before the accident. That conversation led Angela to honoring Olivia’s wishes to be a donor, and to share Olivia’s heroic story. “It was important enough for Olivia to have the conversation with me and make the decision to be an organ donor,” Angela said. “She had a heart for it. So not only do I want to share her story, but I want to help save lives like she did. Even if it’s indirectly by sharing her story.”

Olivia was a rising senior at Republic High School. She was friendly and energetic. She made friends with everyone. Olivia had a genuine heart. She was a runner and liked old movies and photography. And she was a very giving person. Olivia’s compassion and willingness to help others continued even in her passing. Through organ donation, Olivia saved five lives: a teenage boy received her heart, two men in their 50s received her kidneys, a 27-year-old man received her liver, and her lungs saved a 61-year-old grandmother.

The Tournament of Roses Parade will take place beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday, January 1, 2018. More than 40 million viewers are expected to watch the parade on television. For more information on the Donate Life Float and all of the floragraph honorees, please visit www.donatelifefloat.org. 

Mid-America Transplant is participating to support individuals in need of a lifesaving transplant and their families through funding of Mid-America Transplant’s Family House. Family House served 41 families in 2016 and five new families in 2017, year to date. These families needed comfortable, safe and affordable housing after relocating to St. Louis to receive lifesaving pre- and post-transplant care.

This year, with your help we are committed to make Give STL Day even more successful than 2016. Mark your calendar for May 11, 2017, and bookmark our giving link:

https://www.givestlday.org/midamericatransplantfoundation.

Help us spread the word! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. 

Give STL Day is an online day of giving where nonprofits like ours will be reaching out to supporters, to share our mission and raise funds. Mid-America Transplant last participated in Give STL Day in 2015. Last year, the event generated a total of $2.15 million for more than 900 nonprofits, despite technological challenges. This year, the St. Louis Community Foundation has partnered with a new technology vendor, CiviCore, a developer with more than 15 years of experience managing high-volume giving day events. The fundraising platform contains innovative donor-friendly giving tools and robust backup and contingency systems.

 Visit www.givestlday.org for additional details, and don’t forget to give on May 11!

About Mid-America Transplant
Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For more than 40 years, it has facilitated and coordinated organ and tissue donation, and now serves 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas that together are home to 4.7 million people. It saves lives by providing expert and compassionate care for organ and tissue donors, recipients and families, and transforms the clinical processes required to recover and transplant organs and tissues. Mid-America Transplant was the first such organization in the U.S. to use an in-house operating room for organ recovery and pioneered innovative models of increasing donor registry enrollment to provide more organs and tissues to those in need. It is federally designated as one of 58 such organizations in the U.S., and is the first organ procurement organization to be recognized as a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence.

About the Mid-America Transplant Foundation
The Mid-America Transplant Foundation provides enhanced support to transplant patients and their families, donor families and the community. It seeks to reduce the need for organ and tissue transplantation; increase the availability of organs and tissues for those who need them; and to improve the lives of recipients and donor families. The Foundation provides programing, develops partnerships, administers research grants, and provides community health grants to organizations that support its mission of improving health through disease prevention, education and successful transplantation.

Here are seven ways you can participate:

1. NDLM-themed social media cover images and profile pictures. 
   Visit Donate Life America’s National Donate Life Month webpage and download social media cover images and profile pictures to show your support of donation and transplantation. This is an easy way to reach all of your friends and contacts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. In the description of the image, include a link to www.registerme.org where all of your friends can join the registry.
2. NDLM-themed Twibbon overlay for your social media.
   Use a Donate Life Twibbon image to show your support on social media. This is a Donate Life themed overlay that is added to your profile pic, leaving no question about your support of organ, eye and tissue donation. 

3. Share the NDLM ad. 
   Print the NDLM ad and submit it to a community newsletter or the bulletin at your place of worship; distribute it at your high school or college; or post it in the common areas at your workplace. Think about how many people walk through the cafeteria each day at your school or workplace. How many people attend your church? Now think about if all of those people agreed to save lives through organ and tissue donation because of the ad you submitted or posted.
4. Blue & Green Day is April 21st. 
   Dress up in your best blue and green outfit for Blue & Green Day on April 21. Blue and/or green shirt? Check! Blue and green shoes? Check! Blue and green hair accessory? Check! Blue and green nail polish? Check! Blue and green tutu? Double check!

5. Follow Mid-America Transplant.
   We are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. When you like, comment and share on our posts, your friends see our post too. It’s an easy way to share how important National Donate Life Month is to you.
6. Encourage 5 people to join the registry.
   Commit to telling five people about organ, eye and tissue donation and encourage them to sign up. It can be hard to strike up this conversation, so it’s important to wear a Donate Life bracelet, shirt, hat … anything that says Donate Life or organ, eye and tissue donation. When someone asks you about the article you’re wearing, that’s your chance. Download these frequently asked questions and statistics to help you with the conversation.
7. Have you joined the registry?
   And most important, if you haven’t done so yet, join the organ, eye and tissue donor registry by visiting www.registerme.org. More than 118,000 people are waiting for a lifesaving transplant. They’re counting on us to raise awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation to give them a second chance at life.

Wishing you a happy National Donate Life Month! Thank you for your support and your dedication to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation!

Each year, Donate Life America creates artwork for National Donate Life Month that illustrates the power of donation. The 2017 National Donate Life Month (NDLM) art uses pinwheels to tell the donation story. Pinwheels capture and pass on energy. Each Donate Life pinwheel has four sails supported by one stem. The one stem symbolizes the power of one person to save and heal lives through donation. The four sails represent organ, eye, tissue and living donation, the four ways one person can save and heal more than 75 lives through organ, eye and tissue donation, and even save a life through the gift of living donation.

Pinwheels are also symbolic of transformation, turning obstacles into opportunities. The image of the pinwheel reminds us that we all have the potential power to save and heal lives. This April, we encourage you to watch the pinwheels transform the breeze into colorful motion, think of the lives touched by donation and transplantation and register to be a donor.

You can register your decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor in the Medical ID tab of the iPhone Health app (iOS 10) or at RegisterMe.org. To learn more about being a living donor, please visit DonateLife.net.

Currently, 54 percent of the U.S. adult population are registered organ, eye and tissue donors. Yet the number of people in need of transplants continues to outpace the number of organs donated. More than 119,000* people are waiting for a transplant and a second chance at life. On average, 22 people die each day because the organ they need is not donated in time. That is almost one person dying every hour. Registering your decision to become a donor is the most effective way to save lives through donation and is a sign of support to those who continue to wait.

*Data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) as of January 9, 2017

About Mid-America Transplant
Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For more than 40 years, it has facilitated and coordinated organ and tissue donation, and now serves 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas that together are home to 4.7 million people. It saves lives by providing expert and compassionate care for organ and tissue donors, recipients and families, and transforms the clinical processes required to recover and transplant organs and tissues. Mid-America Transplant was the first such organization in the U.S. to use an in-house operating room for organ recovery and pioneered innovative models of increasing donor registry enrollment to provide more organs and tissues to those in need. It is federally designated as one of 58 such organizations in the U.S., and is the first organ procurement organization to be recognized as a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence.

About Donate Life America
Donate Life America is a 501(c)3 nonprofit alliance of national organizations and Donate Life State Teams across the United States committed to increasing the number of donated organs, eyes and tissue available for transplant to save and heal lives. Donate Life America manages and promotes the national brand for donation, Donate Life℠; develops and executes effective multi-media donor education programs; motivates the American public to register now as organ, eye and tissue donors; maintains the National Donate Life Registry, RegisterMe.org; and assists Donate Life State Teams and national partners in facilitating high-performing donor registration programs.

“This is an important addition to the greater Jonesboro area that provides grief services to those coping with the death of a loved one,” said Kevin Lee, Executive Director of the Mid-America Transplant Foundation. “We know the value in these services, and we’re pleased to help the generous people of this community. This is an opportunity to give back to the region, where countless people have said ‘yes’ to organ, eye and tissue donation to give a second chance to others. We hope the services of the NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief will support this community for many years to come.”

The Grief Center plans to provide individual and group grief sessions, workshops and camps for children, teens and adults.  The Jonesboro center will be part of NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital, and it will closely replicate the Kemmons Wilson Family Center for Good Grief. The Jonesboro center expects initially to help more than 50 clients annually and host more than 20 educational outreach activities for the community.

 “When we started the process four years ago, one of our physicians, Dr. Michael Isaacson, came to us and said we have a need in our health system to help people dealing with grief,” said Robbie Johnson, Executive Director of the NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation. “We saw a need, but we didn’t have the funds. In this past year, serendipitously things happened, and suddenly we were on track. Thankfully, through the gifts of financial donors and grants like the one from Mid-America Transplant, we’re able to bring this resource to Jonesboro. We are thrilled to be able to offer this to the community.”  

The NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief is scheduled to open in October.

About the Mid-America Transplant Foundation
The Mid-America Transplant Foundation provides enhanced support to transplant patients and their families, donor families and the community. It seeks to reduce the need for organ and tissue transplantation; increase the availability of organs and tissues for those who need them; and to improve the lives of recipients and donor families. The Foundation provides programing, develops partnerships, administers research grants, and provides community health grants to organizations that support its mission of improving health through disease prevention, education and successful transplantation.

ST. LOUIS (January 31, 2017) – Mid-America Transplant marked a record number of tissue donations, totaling 1,662 donors throughout eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas in 2016. These donations have the potential to provide more than 75,000 recipients with tissues including corneas, bone, skin, heart valves, tendons and veins. 

“Many people are familiar with organ transplants, but don’t realize the incredible potential impact of tissue donation,” said Diane Brockmeier, CEO of Mid-America Transplant. “Donated tissues may help a breast cancer survivor, a burn victim, a child with a heart defect, or an athlete with a torn rotator cuff. One of the remarkable things about tissue donation is that, over time, one tissue donor may improve the quality of life for more than 50 people.”

2016 tissue donations by the numbers:

• 1,394 bone donors, a record number for Mid-America Transplant, helped repair injured knees, spines and hips and reconstruct jaws following trauma or tumor removal.
• 1,231 eye donors provided corneas for vision-saving transplants.
• 891 skin donors enabled doctors to create skin grafts for patients with burns and critical wounds.
• 277 heart valve donors, a 45 percent increase over 2015, helped save the lives of children and young adults born with serious heart defects.
• 195 saphenous vein donors, more than double 2015, restored blood flow for patients with restricted flow to their legs or were used in coronary artery bypass surgeries.

Nationally, the U.S. recorded its highest year for organ transplants and the fourth consecutive year for record-breaking growth, according to United Network for Organ Sharing. In Mid-America Transplant’s tristate service area, 180 individuals provided lifesaving organ donations in 2016, the second-highest year for organ donors in the organization’s history. Donations of kidneys, livers, lungs, hearts, pancreases and intestines resulted in 551 organs transplanted from donors within Mid-America Transplant’s service area last year.

“We are inspired to see growing numbers of donors and families choosing to give these lifesaving gifts,” said Brockmeier. “Their generosity, along with the expertise and compassion demonstrated by our dedicated staff members, have helped us achieve record-breaking donations in 2016.”

A recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence, Mid-America Transplant attributes high donation numbers to a continued focus on innovative approaches that lead to more lifesaving transplants. Much of these efforts center on improving the collaboration between Mid-America Transplant, medical professionals and donor families to achieve higher authorization rates and enhance the overall donation process. In 2016, a record 60 percent of those asked to donate tissue agreed to donate, the highest tissue authorization rate in the organization’s history, and 85 percent of those asked agreed to donate organs. Additionally, clinical expertise, alongside improved technologies and the organization’s on-site surgical facility, enable Mid-America Transplant to achieve record-level performance year after year.

“We’re in a challenging business because record-breaking donor numbers also tell another story – the grief so many individual families in our region face with the loss of a loved one,” said Brockmeier. “We are the stewards of the gifts donors and their families have given, and carry on their memory by helping as many people as possible get the organ and tissue transplants they need.”

To learn more about registering to be an organ and tissue donor, visit www.midamericatransplant.org or sign up at your local Department of Motor Vehicles office.

About Mid-America Transplant

Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For more than 40 years, it has facilitated and coordinated organ and tissue donation, and now serves 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas that together are home to 4.7 million people. It saves lives by providing expert and compassionate care for organ and tissue donors, recipients and families, and transforms the clinical processes required to recover and transplant organs and tissues. Mid-America Transplant was the first such organization in the U.S. to use an in-house operating room for organ recovery and pioneered innovative models of increasing donor registry enrollment to provide more organs and tissues to those in need. It is federally designated as one of 58 such organizations in the U.S., and is the first organ procurement organization to be recognized as a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence. 

The Mid-America Transplant Foundation seeks to reduce the need for organ and tissue transplantation; increase the availability of organs and tissues for those who need them; and to improve the lives of recipients and donor families. For more information, visit www.midamericatransplant.org.

“This is a historic milestone for Mid-America Transplant,” said President and CEO of Mid-America Transplant, Diane Brockmeier. “For the first time in our organization’s history, our Foundation is investing in research that could help hundreds and thousands of people waiting for a lifesaving transplant. The projects funded by the Foundation are truly working toward a brighter future for transplant patients and their families.”

Included in the funding is research on Zika’s ability to infect corneas. Drs. Rajendra Apte and Jonathan Miner of Washington University School of Medicine hypothesize that Zika infects the cornea and can be spread through human tears. The impact on cornea donation and transplantation could reduce the number of corneas available for vision-saving transplants. In the second phase of the study, Drs. Apte and Miner will test the effectiveness of an antibacterial solution to kill Zika in an infected cornea. This one-year, pre-clinical study will provide beneficial data to the eye bank professionals, corneal surgeons and the scientific community by answering critical questions about corneal transplants. 

The Foundation will also fund three clinical research projects through the Foundation’s Clinical Innovation Fund. The awardees’ research is expected to impact transplantation within 3-5 years. The topics include:

• Dr. Gregory Ewald and his team from the Cardiology Department at Washington University School of Medicine are exploring the data from 500 heart donors in St. Louis over the past eight years. This three-year study begins with a one-year retrospective analysis of transplanted hearts to identify markers that may predict the successful transplant of donor hearts in the future. Dr. Ewald and his team will then analyze heart transplant procedures conducted in the second and third year of the study to confirm the retrospective analysis. If successful, the results potentially include more lifesaving heart transplants and improved patient outcomes.
• Dr. Anthony Lubniewski, from the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Department at Washington University School of Medicine, and his team are researching the durability of thinner corneal tissue transplants for patients with corneas damaged by infection or impact. If successful, the resulting benefits include shorter operating room times and the ability to help two patients with one cornea. It is a one-year study that Dr. Lubniewski hopes to implement in practice within five years.
• Dr. Mark Schnitzler, from Saint Louis University’s Department of Surgery, and his team are studying the financial barriers preventing the investment in new technologies needed to make organs available that are discarded under the current system. As regulatory agencies are encouraging the use of higher risk organs to meet the demand for more organ transplants, Dr. Schnitzler is looking to identify alternative payment options to cover the increased cost of technologies that improve the function of marginal organs. If successful, this three-year study could influence policy change that makes more lifesaving transplants available nationwide.

Additionally, the Foundation will bestow two undergrad assistantships to funeral home studies students at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

The Mid-America Transplant Foundation is committed to furthering the sciences aiming to improve organ and tissue transplantation. “Our hope with the Clinical Innovation Fund is to work with clinical investigators in our service area so that they can build a body of knowledge that can be leveraged for larger research projects, with larger sample sizes, greater scope and greater impact to save more lives through organ and tissue transplantation moving forward,” said Kevin Lee, Executive Director of the Mid-America Transplant Foundation.

About the Mid-America Transplant Foundation
The Mid-America Transplant Foundation provides enhanced support to transplant patients and their families, donor families and the community. It seeks to reduce the need for organ and tissue transplantation; increase the availability of organs and tissues for those who need them; and to improve the lives of recipients and donor families. The Foundation provides programs, develops partnerships and provides community wellness grants to organizations that support its mission of improving health through disease prevention, education and successful transplantation.

About Mid-America Transplant
Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For more than 40 years, it has facilitated and coordinated the organ and tissue donation process, and now serves 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas that together are home to 4.7 million people. It saves lives by providing expert and compassionate care for organ and tissue donors, recipients and families, and transforms the clinical processes required to recover organs and tissues for successful transplantation. Mid-America Transplant was the first such organization in the U.S. to use an in-house operating room for organ recovery and pioneered innovative models of increasing donor registry enrollment in an effort to provide organs and tissues to those in need. It is federally designated as one of 58 such organizations in the U.S., and is the first organ procurement organization to be recognized as a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence. 

Mid-America Transplant Chief Executive Officer and President Diane Brockmeier was one of 12 recipients of the inaugural Healthcare Accomplishment Recognition Award from the St. Louis chapter of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association at a recognition event Tuesday in St. Louis.

"We're here to honor these remarkable women," luncheon emcee and Fox2 News anchor Shirley Washington told the crowd of about 250. "Women who have charted their own path, making it possible for young women to follow in their footsteps and chart their own path."

The award recognizes outstanding women with a record of achievement and leadership. Recipients are women who have made an extraordinary contribution in healthcare that has made a difference to improve the quality of life for others in St. Louis or addressed a pertinent problem or issue; have set an example for other women through dedication and passion in the field of healthcare; have demonstrated a desire to contribute to her organization, industry or local healthcare community as a volunteer; and have shown a commitment to mentoring other women.

“I am so honored and grateful to receive this award,” Diane said. “My passion for organ and tissue donation hasn’t wavered in my 30 years with Mid-America Transplant. Every day, I’m inspired by those who choose to donate and those who are receiving lifesaving gifts. I am privileged to lead many great people as we work toward a future where organs and tissues are always available to those in need.”

Diane has proven to be a collaborative leader during her 30-year tenure at Mid-America Transplant. She is nationally recognized for her efforts to establish key quality benchmarks and enhance the organ and tissue donation process. She was instrumental in quality and organizational changes that resulted in Mid-America Transplant being awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2016. A champion for the organization to adopt the Baldrige criteria for performance excellence in 2003, Diane led the 10-year journey with Baldrige and the lifesaving changes that more than doubled the number of organs transplanted from 300 in 2005 to 618 in 2015.

Strategically, Diane was the driving force in implementing several innovative best practices over the past several years. Her key accomplishments include overseeing the design, construction and use of a first-in-the-nation, on-site surgical suite for organ and tissue recovery. She enhanced the initial vision to include on-site catheterization and CT scanning, which led to praise by donor hospitals and transplant surgeons for its enhanced quality control and convenience.

The 12 accomplished women in healthcare were nominated by their peers for the Healthcare Accomplishment Recognition Award. “I am so pleased we have the opportunity to recognize these extraordinary women with the Healthcare Accomplishment Recognition Award,” said chapter president Katherine Joslin, SVP Human Resources & Marketing, Bethesda Health Group, Inc. “These recipients directly contribute to the advancement and impact of women in the business of healthcare. They are role models for other women, and each has forged a path that other healthcare organizations may want to consider as they groom women for leadership.” 

In the August 12th edition of the St. Louis Business Journal, each honoree was asked about the pair of shoes that best describes them and why. Diane, who was promoted to president and CEO on February 1, 2016 in her 29th year with the organization, selected a pair of brightly colored sandals. “I love color,” she told the newspaper, “and I definitely tend to look on the brighter side of life. I am truly inspired every day by life moments... college graduations, weddings and first days of school to name a few. At Mid-America Transplant, we’re working to make more of those moments possible through the generous act of organ and tissue donation.”

Diane is nationally recognized for her collaborative leadership efforts to establish key quality benchmarks and enhance organ and tissue donation recovery and quality. As president and CEO of Mid-America Transplant, Diane oversees strategic operations, including key partnerships with more than 120 hospitals and transplant centers located throughout Missouri, northeast Arkansas and southern Illinois. She has been with the organization for 30 years, first as a nurse and organ procurement coordinator and then rising through the ranks to oversee all organ procurement and clinical services as the chief operating officer before becoming president and CEO in February 2016.

“It is readily apparent to the Board of Directors that Diane brings a high level of expertise to the position of president,” said Robert Bezanson, chairman of the Mid-America Transplant Board of Directors. “We know she will ensure the organization will continue to succeed in its mission and ongoing innovation.  Perhaps more importantly she has an unwavering compassion for the families and communities Mid-America Transplant serves and we are certain she will bring that kindness with her as she leads the organization into the future.”

Read more from the St. Louis Business Journal
Diane Brockmeier, president and CEO, Mid-America Transplant
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