2024 REIMAGINE Symposium

By Brittany Fair

On Sept. 20, 2024, the center hosted its first symposium called REIMAGINE Organ Donation and Transplantation: Paving the Path to 60k. Thought leaders from across the country attended the event, which featured presentations by UC San Diego Department of Surgery faculty members Gabriel Schnickel, MD, MPH, executive director of REIMAGINE, and Aleah Brubaker, MD, PhD, among others.

The featured talks focused on the four pillars of the Center, which include Education and Innovation; Equity, Policy, Ethics and Economics; Compassion, Mindfulness and Burnout; and Basic and Translational Sciences. The talks also included a moderated discussion to develop ideas about how to reimagine the organ donation and allocation system to bring about change.

“This is the first time an academic institution has a dedicated center where organ donation and allocation are the sole focus, and UC San Diego is perfectly positioned to make a huge impact,” says Schnickel.

 Over 120 people registered for the symposium, and the team aims to make it an annual event. In the future, Schnickel wants to invite physicians and researchers from other countries to help guide the implementation of more robust organ donation and allocation systems across the world.  

If you missed the event but would like to learn more or watch the talk, please visit the REIMAGINE Organ Donation website. If you are interested in working or volunteering to make positive change in organ donation, please email reimaginecenter@health.ucsd.edu.