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Thomas M. Egan, MD, MSc., was invited to participate in a symposium and roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 29, 2016. The symposium, “Emerging Technologies in Organ Preservation,” followed the June 13 White House Organ Summit and was intended to shape national policy and priorities surrounding innovations that can help end the organ shortage, and increase access to lung transplantation.

Dr. Egan is internationally known for his research in lung transplantation. He has been studying assessment and transplantation of lungs from victims of sudden death (people who have died unexpectedly and have not been on mechanical ventilation before death). Usually, organs for transplant come from brain-dead individuals who have been on a ventilator before declaration of death. If lungs of sudden-death victims can be used successfully for transplant, thousands more people with end-stage lung disease could get life-saving new lungs.