Happy National Donate Life Month! |
|
In April each year, National Donate Life Month helps raise awareness about donation, encourages Americans to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors, and honors those who have saved lives through the gift of donation. Register to become an organ and tissue donor at registerme.org. |
|
Introducing our new Transplant Surgeon, Dr. Todd Robinson |
|
We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Robinson to our team!
Dr. Todd J. Robinson is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, and is an Attending Transplant Surgeon at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He is board-certified in general surgery and specializes in liver, kidney, and pancreas transplantation, living kidney donation, robot-assisted donor nephrectomy, robot-assisted kidney implantation, and general surgery in abdominal transplant patients.
Dr. Robinson completed his abdominal transplant fellowship training in multi-organ transplantation at the University of Virginia. Before that, he completed his general surgery residency training at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. He attended medical school at Midwestern University’s Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Robinson graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in History, where he focused on social justice in the United States, gender and race issues, and the politics of colonialism.
|
|
"I am dedicated to treating the sickest patients in medicine and offering the highest care possible. It is my goal to perform highly technical surgery in every aspect of abdominal transplantation and to treat end-stage organ disease in a multidisciplinary and holistic fashion." -Dr. Todd Robinson
|
|
Meet Living Kidney Donor and DOVE Founder:
Sharyn Kreitzer
|
|
DOVE is a non-profit program that aims to increase access to living kidney donor transplantation for US Veterans. They help find, educate, and support prospective donors and then match them to Veterans registered with DOVE. They offer our services to any prospective person donating to a Veteran (or participating in an exchange that will benefit a veteran). They also offer services to any Veteran who can provide proof of their military service history with an active listing letter. Their services are free of charge and are not affiliated with the VA Health System.
What inspired you to start DOVE? I am a social worker by training, and my entire career has been working with the ESRD population. First at dialysis and then in transplants. In 2015, I helped launch the 7th kidney transplant program in the VA System, this time at the Bronx VA. Working with Veterans was very rewarding. Access to transplants is lower in VA compared to civilian transplant centers. In particular, the living kidney donor rates are very low. Many people attribute this to veterans having “psychosocial risk factors.” This notion did not feel like an acceptable reason to me. I was curious how I could tap into the vast military ecosystem as well as appeal to the public to let them know Veterans were dying waiting for kidney transplants.
|
|
“Leave no soldier behind” is engrained in military culture. I knew that informing the community would result in many people stepping up as donors if they could direct their gifts to veterans.
What is the motivating factor behind your work? After seeing how the Jewish organization Renewal demonstrated the power and impact of community-directed donation, I wondered what other communities could follow in their lead. When I worked at the VA, I was confident that the military community was the right fit. When people have a community connection and can choose to whom they want to donate a kidney, living donation rates will increase.
What is the most rewarding component of your work? I took a significant risk by leaving a secure career in a hospital transplant program to launch DOVE. I had no idea what I was doing. I had no funding. I just knew the idea would work. Over the past three years, DOVE has helped 36 living donor transplants happen. The close connections I have made within our community are the most rewarding component. One Veteran wrote a note to me with a hand-carved flag, saying he was never more proud to be a Veteran than when he learned of DOVE being there to help him. What feels more gratifying than that?
What advice would you give to patients waiting for a kidney transplant? Be open to letting others in to help you. Find an advocate or champion who can help in your search for a donor. Keep yourself as healthy mentally and physically as you can. Participate actively in your care. Please communicate with your family and your medical team and let them know how you are doing and what you need. Many people don't realize how many resources there are. I inform patients about dual listing and being proactive in their care and treatment options.
Fun fact about you: I am a kidney donor! I donated 1.5 years ago. I gave my kidney to someone within the Renewal community, and they, in turn, found a kidney for a very hard-to-match Veteran in Boston. It was my way of thanking Renewal for their inspiration and showing the ripple effect of community-directed donation.
A quote you live by: “Perfection gets in the way of Good Enough.” – I would never have taken a risk and launched DOVE if I had waited until everything was perfect to begin. Just be forgiving of yourself and try!
|
|
"Karolyn Goodwin was our Team's 36th Veteran living donor kidney transplant recipient." She said, "No one has ever done anything like this for me, and I don't deserve this." It was my honor to say she did deserve this, thank her for her service, and thank her for allowing me to give back through DOVE.
-Sharyn Kreitzer
From left to right, pictured above, is a beautiful reunion: Sharyn Kreitzer, Susan Shelton (Living Kidney Donor) with Karolyn Goodwin (Kidney Transplant Recipient), and Jennifer Lippmann, RPA-c, Transplant Coordinator.
|
|
Join Our Monthly Webinar Series! |
|
|
|
1283 York Ave, Floor 9
New York, NY 10065
P: (212) 746-3099 | F: (212) 746-3100 |
E: transplant@med.cornell.edu
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
