IMProving Access and Care in Transplantation Lab

Making an IMPACT

We strive to make an impact in all that we do, both for our patients and as a team! See what we've been up to below!

  • Sierra Auleta won an AST COP travel grant to attend the 2025 World Transplant Congress this August. Way to go Sierra!
  • Dr. Thiessen was recently named a recipient of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) Health Policy Fellowship! During this fellowship, Dr. Thiessen will develop essential skills, conduct impactful research, gain leadership experience, and expand her professional network.
  • Congratulations to all IMPACT lab members for a successful presentation week at the World Transplant Congress! Full abstracts for all 14 of the works presented can be found here.
  • The IMPACT lab submitted 14 abstracts to the 2025 World Transplant Congress (WTC), and we are happy to report that all submissions were accepted for presentation as either posters, oral or rapid fire talks, or full program talks! Congrats to everyone who submitted and we look forward to sharing our work in August with the world!
  • Zoe Gonzalez gave an oral presentation at the 2025 UW Undergraduate Research Symposium. Way to go Zoe!
    • “Assessing the Impact of The Living Kidney Donor Transplant Process on Donor-Recipient Relational Closeness” – Gonzalez ZC 
  • Dr. Thiessen was invited to serve as an Associated Editor for the American Journal of Transplantation. Congrats Dr. Thiessen!
  • Angela Gifford was awarded an Academic Staff Professional Development grant to attend WTC in the fall. Way to go Ang!
  • Taylor Bradley and Alex Shipe presented posters at the 2025 Department of Surgery Research Summit:
    • “Longitudinal Assessment of Solid Organ Transplant Recipients with SARS-CoV-2” – Bradley T, Vuyk W, Bobholz M, Emmen I, Lail A, Minor A, Bhimalli P, Ries HJ, Machkovech H, Wei W, Wiler A, Richardson A, DePagter C, VanSleet G, Maansi B, Gifford A, Benito M, Shipe A, Mohamed R, Smith J, Wilson N, Friedrich TC, O’Connor DH, Garonzik-Wang J.
    • “Using a centralized normothermic machine preservation and assessment service to rescue hard-to-place kidneys” – Gifford A, Bradley T, Holzner ML, Goggins W, Guerra G, Philip JL, van Leeuwen LL, Shapiro R, Leuvenink HGD, Jaynes CL, Garonzik-Wang J.
  • Dr. Garonzik-Wang presented a poster at the 2025 ASTS Winter Symposium:
    • “Longitudinal Assessment of Solid Organ Transplant Recipients with SARS-CoV-2” – Bradley T, Vuyk W, Bobholz M, Emmen I, Lail A, Minor A, Bhimalli P, Ries HJ, Machkovech H, Wei W, Wiler A, Richardson A, DePagter C, VanSleet G, Maansi B, Gifford A, Benito M, Shipe A, Mohamed R, Smith J, Wilson N, Friedrich TC, O’Connor DH, Garonzik-Wang J.
  • Sierra Auleta presented an oral presentation at the 2025 American Surgical Congress
    • “Too risky? Says who? Living kidney donors’ preferences on who should influence donor eligibility decisions” – Auleta S, Alagoz E, Robbins S, Gifford A, Gannon J, Yu K, Li S, Gray D, Mussell A, Kennedy K, Dobosz D, Stalter L, Hanlon B, Reese P, Gordon E, Kulkarni S, Thiessen C.
  • Dr. Thiessen was awarded a NIH Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (also known as a K23 grant)! This four-year project will investigate the impact of cognitive biases on patient and provider willingness to accept imperfect kidneys for transplantation! Congratulations to Dr. Thiessen and the team!
  • Liz Nies presented at The Transplantation Society’s 2024 meeting
    • “A liver for a kidney: Donor and professional attitudes toward trans-organ exchange” – Nies E, Pati B, Alagoz E, Samstein B, Cullen JM, Roberts JP, Thiessen C.
  • Aditi Shah and Zoe Gonzales’s abstracts were selected for presentation at the Wisconsin Surgical Society. Way to go team!
  • Dr. Jacqueline Garonzik Wang, IMPACT Lab Director, was elected as a councilor for the American Society of Transplant Surgeons. The American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) is a group of transplant professionals who are dedicated to saving and improving lives through the transformative power of organ donation and transplant surgery. The mission of the ASTS is to advance the art and science of transplant surgery through patient care, research, education, and advocacy. Congratulations Dr. Garonzik Wang!
  • Numerous members of IMPACT lab presented or had presentations at the 2024 American Transplant Congress in June:
    • “Current Practices in Transplantation Financial Toxicity Screening” – Koo DC, Chiu MZ, Scalise PN, Cuenca AG, Iglesias J, O’Melia L, Kim H, Collins K, Garonzik-Wang J,
      Elisofon SA, Lee CK, LeMarier G, Lee EJ.
      Presenter: Donna Koo, MD
    • “Seasonal Patterns of Living Kidney Donation in the United States from 1995 to 2019” – Arking, Kaddu G, Segev D, Garonzik-Wang J, Snyder J, King E, Muzaale A, Al Ammary F.
      Presenter: Fawaz Al Ammary, MD, PhD
    • “Detailed Analysis of Kidney Transplant Recipients Admitted to a Tertiary Care Transplant Center with Sars-Cov-2” – Zona E, Gibes ML, Jain AS, Smith J, Garonzik-Wang J, Mandelbrot D, Parajuli S.
      Presenter: Sandesh Parajuli, MD
    • “Emotional Burdens and Educational Benefits: Pre-procurement Conversations Between Donor Families and Transplant Teams” – Gagnon H, Saucke M, Alagoz E, Neidlinger N, Thiessen C.
      Presenter: Helia Gagnon
    • “Living Donor Kidney Transplant Derived Ehrlichia Chaffeensis”- Kuehler D, Doyle A, Antwi N, Annambhotla P, Thiessen C, Odorico J, Karpathy S, Saddler C, Pruett T, Kandaswamy R.
      Presenter: Daniel Kuehler, MD
    • “Length of Stay Following Orthotopic Adult Liver Transplant” – Fedorova E, Garonzik-Wang J.
      Presenter: Ekaterina Fedorova, MD
    • “Concerns with Crowdfunding for Solid Organ Transplant-related Expenses: Results from a National Survey” – Erb B, Braun H, Im C, Nies E, Gordon EJ, Mezrich J, Thiessen C.
      Presenter: Bethany Erb
  • Dr. Jacqueline Garonzik-Wang won Best Overall Presentation at Weikel LEADS Program. Congrats!
  • Congrats to Dr. Carrie Thiessen for being elected as Co-Chair of the Executive Committee for the Psychosocial and Ethics Community of Practice in the American Society of Transplantation!
  • Zoe Gonzales has been awarded a 2024/2025 Sophomore Research Fellowship! This $2500 award will help her continue to pursue work on better understanding the relations between living donors and their recipients. Way to go Zoe!