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Medical Advisory Council

The Transplant Families Medical Advisory Council is a multidisciplinary group of transplant clinicians who offer specific medical advice to our organization when needed.

Dr. Amaral is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania where she has been recognized for excellence in mentoring and teaching. She currently leads three multi-center NIH-funded studies and collaborates on numerous multi-disciplinary studies focused on improving equitable access to care and long-term health outcomes for children with chronic kidney disease and transplantation. She is a strong advocate for public policies that support children with kidney disease through leadership roles in the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology and the United Network of Organ Sharing/Organ Procurement and Transplant Network.
Sandra Amaral

MD, MHS

Nephrology

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

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Dr. Melissa Cousino is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Psychosocial Services and Research for the University of Michigan Congenital Heart Center. She leads the growing M-COPE program which aims to increase access to mental health care for patients and families in the heart center and be a leading, nationally recognized program for psychosocial research in pediatric cardiology. Clinically, she provides mental health care services to pediatric patients with advanced organ disease and solid organ transplantation, specializing in pediatric heart and kidney transplantation at the University of Michigan Transplant Center. Dr. Cousino also directs a program of research funded by the National Institute of Health focused on healthcare communication, medical decision making, mental health and psychosocial outcomes in pediatric advanced organ disease. She serves on scientific committees and boards for various leading medical organizations and learning networks, including the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation and ACTION.
Melissa Cousino

PhD

Psychologist

Mott Children's Hospital

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<p class="font_8">Shri Deshpande, MD currently serves as the Medical Director for the Heart Failure and Transplant Program at Rady Children’s Hospital and University of California, San Diego.&nbsp;</p> <p class="font_8"><br></p> <p class="font_8">He is the recent Past-President of the Pediatric Heart Transplant Society and on various academic committees for prestigious organizations such as the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology amongst others.&nbsp;</p> <p class="font_8"><br></p> <p class="font_8">He has published over a hundred peer reviewed research papers, served on writing committees for various guidelines and statement papers and more than 120 conference presentations and invited lectures. His research focuses on heart failure management in children, mechanical circulatory support and heart transplantation including major focus on technology and human interactions. He is part of the team that has developed bloodbased test for detection of rejection in heart transplantation instead of invasive biopsies. This research was supported by NIH/NHLBI and has led to development of a commercial assay. He is part of transplant related drug trials and is also developing new methods for analyzing the biopsies in transplant patients using advance image analysis and AI techniques. He is dedicated to clinical program development across the globe through education and mentorship.</p>
Shri Deshpande

MD

Cardiologist

Rady Children’s Hospital

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Board Member and Medical Advisory Council Member Caregiver to Kidney Transplant Recipient Katrina Fields, BSN, RN, is the caregiver to a kidney transplant recipient. She is the coordinator of the Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and a Clinical Heart Failure Nurse Educator. Katrina is also in a leadership position with the quality improvement collaborative Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION).
Katrina Fields

BSN, RN

Nursing, Caregiver/Pediatric

Cincinnati Children's Hospital

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Joshua Gossett, DNP, MBA, RN currently serves as the Director of the Pediatric Transplant Center at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford (Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA), as well as an Adjunct Professor at Widener University (Philadelphia, PA) where he teaches Informatics in the Doctor of Nursing Practice online program. Dr. Gossett also serves on the national Transplant Administrators Committee with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and was a team lead in the recent UNOS Pediatric Liver Improvement Collaborative. In May of 2016, Dr. Gossett founded the Pediatric Improvement Collaborative for Organ Transplant, a group of pediatric transplant administrators and QI experts that work together to support pediatric outcomes improvement across the nation. Dr. Gossett also serves as a Quality Improvement consultant with the Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION), which is an international improvement collaborative working to improve outcomes on children with heart failure. Other consulting activities include creation of a QI introductory module for the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and consultation as an expert witness in healthcare litigation cases. Dr. Gossett earned his BS (Biology), MBA, and DNP degrees from the Ohio State University, as well as his BSN (Nursing) from Mt. Carmel College of Nursing. He has earned a black belt in lean/six sigma, as well as various other professional certifications. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the International Pediatric Transplant Association, the Society for Pediatric Liver Transplantation, The Transplant Society, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, as well as the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs. Dr. Gossett has numerous poster and podium publications including speaking at the American Transplant Congress, the UNOS Transplant Management Forum, and the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations.
Joshua Gossett

DNP, MBA, RN

Administrator, Nursing

Stanford-Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

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Dr. Taylor Heald-Sargent obtained her MD and PhD degrees at Loyola University Chicago, completed her pediatrics residency at the University of Chicago, and her pediatric infectious diseases fellowship at Northwestern University. She has remained at Lurie Children's Hospital as an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases primarily focused on caring for children undergoing transplants. Dr. Heald-Sargent's research focuses on preventing infections after transplantation with a focus on viral infections. She participates in many national organizations including the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, the American Society of Transplantation, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. She looks forward to partnering with Transplant Families to improve the medical care and quality of life of children with transplants and their families. Dr. Taylor Heald-Sargent is a member of Transplant Families' planning committee for our annual Pediatric Transplant Conference each April.
Taylor Heald-Sargent

MD, PhD

Infectious Disease

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

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Strategy Advisor to the Board of Directors Caregiver to Heart Transplant Recipient As a transplant dad and information technology professional, Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network former Board of Directors member Joseph Hillenburg applies his IT, strategy, and advocate expertise to help advance the missions of organizations including OPTN/UNOS, Donate Life, AST, Transplant Families, and Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
Joseph Hillenburg

Chair, Medical Advisory Council

Caregiver/Pediatric

Transplant Families

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Dr. Simon Horslen is a Professor in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition at Pittsburgh Children's Hospital, and the University of Pittsburgh. He is the Director of Pediatric Hepatology. Dr. Horslen earned his medical degree at the University of Bristol Medical School in England and is a Fellow and Founder Member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He has worked in the US since 1997, initially at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, then at Seattle Children's for 16 years before moving to Pittsburgh Children's Hospital in 2021. Clinical and research interests include metabolic liver disease, acute liver failure, and liver and Intestine transplantation. He has over 150 publications in the areas of pediatric liver disease and transplantation. Dr Horslen participates in several multicenter studies including SPLIT (Studies in Pediatric Liver Transplantation), PALF (Pediatric Acute Liver Failure) and ChiLDReN (Children's Liver Disease Research Network). Dr Horslen is a past-Chair of the UNOS/OPTN Pediatric Committee and has served as a member of the UNOS Board of Governors. He has chaired the Pediatric Community of Practice of the American Society of Transplantation (AST) is a past-President of SPLIT (Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation) and immediate Past-President of IRTA (Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplantation Association).
Simon Horslen

MD, ChB, FRCPCH, FAASLD, FAST

Hepatologist

UPMC-Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

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Mary Chandran is a clinical pharmacist practitioner at the University of North Carolina Medical Center. She specializes in kidney and liver transplantation, working with adults and pediatrics. She has a strong interest in assisting young adults as they transition to adult transplant care.
Mary Moss Chandran

PharmD, CPP, BCTXP, BCPS, FAST

Pharmacist

University of North Carolina Medical Center

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Vicky was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She is a staff pediatric hepatologist at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, and a Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. Vicky has been taking care of patients with childhood liver diseases for over 2 decades, and her scholarly interests focus on outcomes research in infants, children and teens who have undergone liver transplantation. She is the co-creator of the PeLTQL (Pediatric Liver Transplant Quality of Life), the first disease-specific PROM for teens and children who have undergone isolated liver transplantation. The PeLTQL has been translated in over 10 languages, and currently available in both paper and digital formats. Other arenas of focus include assessment approaches for sarcopenia and frailty in children and expanding the use of anonymous live donor liver transplantation as one strategy to prevent pediatric deaths on the waiting list. Vicky is a Past-President of the Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation (SPLIT). She currently has the privilege of serving as President of the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN).
Vicky Lee Ng

MD FRCPC F-AASLD NASPGHAN-F

Hepatologist

Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto

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Dr. Joseph Spinner is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and the Associate Medical Director of Cardiac Transplantation at Texas Children's Hospital. He graduated from Baylor College of Medicine Medical School where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society. He completed his pediatrics residency at Texas Children's Hospital where he was awarded Pediatrics Intern of the Year and Pediatrics Resident of the year, and where he was selected Chief Resident. He completed his pediatric cardiology and heart failure and transplantation endowed fellowships at Texas Children's Hospital where he was awarded Pediatric Cardiology Fellow of the Year and selected Chief Fellow. He is as an active member of the Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION), International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, and Pediatric Heart Transplant Society. He is a funded researcher investigating how to improve pediatric heart failure and transplant outcomes, and he is actively engaged in several multi-institutional pediatric heart failure and pediatric heart transplantation studies.
Joseph Spinner

MD, FAAP

Cardiologist

Texas Children's Hospital

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