Board of Directors

Chair:

Diane Wilson, BSN, MSN/MHA

 United States

Dr. Diane Wilson is the Chief Operating Officer of Community Tissue Services. Diane has more than 30 years of experience in Tissue Banking. She has held numerous positions in the American Association of Tissue Banks “AATB” (Board of Governors, Chair of the Standards Committee, Accreditation Inspector, Chair of the Membership Committee, and Chair of the Tissue Bank Council). She served as President for AATB. She also served as a Member of the Committee for the Coalition on Donation of AATB and as a Member of AABB. She was an educator for the AATB Certified Tissue Bank Specialist Training Course for 25 years. She is a Member of AATB, the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses, and the Association of peri-Operating Room Nurses.

Diane Wilson is currently a board member of ICCBBA, a member and former Chair of the North American Tissue Banking Technical Advisory Group (NATTAG), a member of the Tissue Engineered Products Technical Advisory Group (TEPTAG), a Medical Advisory and Policy Board Member of the Gift of Life Donor Program, and is the Chairman of the Board for Joint Restoration Foundation, Inc. She is a Registered Nurse and holds an Associate of Science in Nursing degree from Everett Community College, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Phoenix, and a Master’s Degree in Nursing and Health Administration from the University of Phoenix.

Timothy L. Pruett, MD

 United States

Dr. Pruett received his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine, General Surgery and Transplantation training at the University of Minnesota and Internal Medicine residency at the University of Michigan. He has his Boards from the ABS in General Surgery and Critical Care and from the ABIM in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Pruett began his clinical career at the University of Virginia rising from Assistant Professor of Surgery (1987) to Professor of Surgery and Division Chief of Transplantation Surgery by 1996. He was appointed the Strickler Family Professor of Transplantation in 1997. He was the Program Director of the transplantation training program at University of Virginia. As an intensivist, he was co-director of the surgical ICU and established and was Program Director of the Critical Care Training program. In 2009, he moved to the University of Minnesota as Professor of Surgery and Internal Medicine, Chief of Transplantation and the John S. Najarian Surgical Chair in Clinical Transplantation.

Dr. Pruett currently serves as President of American Society of Transplant Surgeons (2016-2017) and previously served as Treasurer of American Society of Transplant Surgeons’ Council (2012-2015). He chairs the ASTS/AST joint committee for Biovigilance and has spoken broadly on legal and system issues that impact to organ transplantation within global healthcare systems.  Dr. Pruett was President of United Network for Organ Sharing (2008-2009); Chair of the Membership and Professional Standards Committee (2007-2008) and has represented UNOS in multiple international initiatives.

Dr. Pruett’s research interests have included organ transplantation in patients with chronic viral diseases, the ethics and practice of live kidney donation and allocation, transmissible diseases through organs and infections after organ transplantation. He also has education and infection interests as they pertain to the care of the critically ill.

Secretary:

Prof. Dr. Martin Hildebrandt, MD

 Germany

Prof. Dr. Martin Hildebrandt is a hematologist and transfusion specialist. He graduated from the Free University Berlin in 1993, and was board certified in Internal Medicine (2002), Hematology and Oncology (2008) and Transfusion Medicine (2016). As coordinator and participant of several EC-funded research projects (ACADEMIC GMP, AGORA, BIOHYBRID, TETRA), he contributed to the definition of an academic position in the development of cell-based and gene therapies in Europe. Prof Hildebrandt has been in charge of Academic GMP facilities in Berlin and Hannover, Germany, before taking over the responsibility for establishing TUMCells, the Interdisciplinary Center for Cellular Therapies at TU Munich School of Medicine, where he serves as Executive Director and Qualified Person. His focus of regulatory expertise lies with GCP/GMP, ATMP development and manufacture. The major area of research of Martin Hildebrandt is T-cell mediated immunomodulation and Transplant optimisation.

Prof. Hildebrandt is member of the working group on blood-associated infections at the German Federal Ministry of Health, Chair of the Ethics Committee of the State of Berlin, advisor to the German Working Group on Chronic Rare Diseases (ACHSE), several academic consortia, and member of the European QP Association, several editorial boards, national and international professional societies.

Treasurer:

Zbigniew M Szczepiorkowski, MP, PhD, FCAP

 United States

Zbigniew (Ziggy) M. Szczepiorkowski, MD, PhD, FCAP, is currently an associate professor of pathology and of medicine at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth as well as section chief of laboratory medicine, medical director of the Transfusion Medicine Service, medical director of the Center for Transfusion Medicine Research, and director of the Cellular Therapy Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, N.H, USA. Szczepiorkowski also directs the fellowship program in transfusion medicine at DHMC, which he established in 2007.  He also is an investigator at Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center) and a consultant in pathology services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston as well as a visiting professor in Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Warsaw, Poland.

 Szczepiorkowski has served in many leadership capacities with organizations and professional societies. He is past president of AABB; past president of the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA); chair of the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion Collaborative (BEST), a past treasurer of the World Apheresis Association; a past member of the board of directors of the National Marrow Donor Program (Be The Match); Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplantation Research (CIBMTR); National Blood Foundation (NBF) and NBF Research Education Trust. He also has served on multiple National Institutes of Health review panels as well as various committees of AABB, American Society for Apheresis, College of American Pathologists, International Society of Blood Transfusion, Faculty 1000, International Committee on Transfusion Medicine Guidelines; Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy, International Council for Commonality in Blood Bank Automation, Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research and the National Marrow Donor Program. He has been the chair of CTCLAG since 2014.

He has authored or co-authored more than 110 peer-reviewed publications; over 30 book chapters; and edited 3 books in the fields of laboratory medicine, cellular therapy, apheresis and transfusion medicine. He serves as section editor of (Cellular Therapy and Reviews) "Vox Sanguinis." and associate editor of the "Journal of Clinical Apheresis".  He participated in research funded both by government and industry sources. He is currently a consultant for Fresenius Kabi and Grifols, Inc.

His current research includes studies of adaptive immunotherapy in cancer, the clinical use of apheresis and cellular therapy products.

A graduate of the Medical University of Warsaw, Poland, Szczepiorkowski was an intern in Mokotowski Hospital in Warsaw, then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He obtained his doctorate in medicine at the Medical Center for Postgraduate Education in Warsaw. He was a resident and chief resident in clinical pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also was a Grove-Rasmussen transfusion medicine fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital.

W John Armitage, BSc, PhD

 United Kingdom

After graduating in Physiology and Zoology from London University and completing a PhD in cryobiology, John Armitage continued research into the preservation of cells, tissues and organs for transplantation. Research posts in Cambridge, UK, and in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA, were followed by a move to Bristol in 1984 to set up the Bristol Eye Bank and to carry out research into the cryopreservation of cornea. The eye bank was a collaboration between the University of Bristol and the former UK Transplant and the resulting national service transformed corneal transplantation in the UK. Professor Armitage was Director of Tissue Banking and chaired the University’s Human Tissue Group, which oversaw regulatory compliance for the storage and use of human tissue for transplantation, research, and teaching. Bristol Eye Bank transferred to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in April 2015.

Apart from cell and tissue preservation, other principal research interests include corneal transplant outcome in the UK and Sweden, and corneal transplant immunology. Professor Armitage is a founding member and current President of the European Eye Bank Association, a founding member and former President of the British Association for Tissue Banking, a member of the Swedish Corneal Transplant Registry Steering Group, a member of the NHSBT Ocular Tissue Advisory Group, Chair of the NHSBT Eye Bank Subgroup, a member of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Ocular Tissue Transplant Standards Group, an Associate Editor of the journal Cryobiology, Chair of the ICCBBA Eye Bank Technical Advisory Group (EBTAG), a member of the ICCBBA Standards Committee, a former Secretary of the Society for Cryobiology, and he co-chairs the drafting group for the 3rd edition of the Council of Europe Guide to the Quality and Safety of Tissues and Cells for Human Application.

Mahrukh Getshen

Bhutan

Mahrukh Getshen graduated from Grant Medical College, Bombay University, India in 1987 with a MBBS degree. She obtained a diploma in Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine from Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand in 2002; and a Master of Public Health from Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia in 2012.

She has been heading the National Blood Bank at JDW, National Referral Hospital located in Thimphu, Bhutan since 2002. Being the first and only specialist in the field of Transfusion Medicine, her responsibilities include providing technical expertise and policy guidance to the National Blood Safety Program under the Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Bhutan.

She has been actively involved in the promotion of Voluntary Non-remunerated Blood Donation activities in the capital and nationwide, and her efforts have helped increase the percentage of VNRBD from 30% in 2002, to 90% in 2014 at the National Blood Bank. Her contribution includes creation of the National Blood Policy, Bhutan; Standards and National Guidelines and National Assessment Schemes in Immuno-hematology.

Mahrukh Getshen has been a member of the World Health Organization Expert Advisory Panel for Blood Transfusion since 2010, and is one of the current Vice-Presidents of the Asian Association of Transfusion Medicine (AATM). She is the recipient of the ISBT Runner-Up Award (Individual Category) for Developing Countries, July 2012. She is also an advocate of the rights and dignity of persons with diverse abilities, and dedicates her free time and services as the Vice-Chairperson on the Board of Trustees of Ability Bhutan Society, a civil society organization under the Patronage of Her Majesty, the Queen of Bhutan. She has also been made the chairperson of Bhutan Australia Alumni Association, a voluntary organization comprising of Bhutanese alumni who have studied in Australia through various Australia Awards and scholarships. 

She is the recipient of the National Order of Merit Award Silver given by His Majesty of the Kingdom of Bhutan during the National Day celebrations on 17 December 2017. The award recognizes the dedicated and quality services rendered to the throne, people, and the nation. Mahrukh was one of six specialists honored with the National Order of Merit Award.

Matthew J. Kuehnert, MD, FACP, FIDSA

 United States

Dr. Kuehnert is the chief medical officer of MTF Biologics, a nonprofit tissue processor founded in 1987 to save and heal lives, and has been with the organization since 2017. He was appointed Professor of Medicine at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University in 2019, and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Before 2017, Dr. Kuehnert coordinated investigations, surveillance, and policy as Director of the Office of Blood, Organ, and Other Tissue Safety at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the improvement of transfusion and transplant outcomes to ensure patient safety.

He completed his undergraduate education at the University of California at San Diego and received his medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians & Surgeons. He trained in Internal Medicine at Stanford University and the University of California at San Francisco, and in Infectious Diseases at Emory University.

Joy Mammen, MD

 India

Joy Mammen did his undergraduate studies in medicine (MBBS) and subsequently specialized in Pathology (MD) from the Christian Medical College Vellore (cmch-vellore.edu), India, where he currently heads of the department of Transfusion Medicine. He is trained in Laboratory Informatics and his interest areas are in proficiency testing, laboratory automation, voluntary blood donation and public policy in connection with transfusion practice.

Dr. Mammen coordinates two national External Quality Assessment Schemes for Haemostasis and Transfusion Medicine and is a member of the National Blood Transfusion Council of India. He serves on two subcommittees of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for medical instruments. He also consults for WHO for issues related to blood safety. His publications are in the areas of quality assurance, haemostasis, laboratory haematology and transfusion medicine

Dr. Ineke Slaper-Cortenbach, PhD

 The Netherlands

Dr. Ineke Slaper-Cortenbach is currently working as a biomedical consultant in the field of (stem) cell therapy and regenerative medicine. As a project manager, she recently completed the transition of the Sanquin Cord Blood Bank from Leiden to Amsterdam. She has also been working for almost 3 years at ZonMW (the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development) in the Hague, the Netherlands, where she was the programme manager responsible for funding projects in ‘Translational research’.  She has more than 30 years' experience as a laboratory director in cell therapy. She is an internationally well-known leading authority in regulatory affairs of cellular products.  Her expertise is reflected by taking the lead in multiple national and international organizations (JACIE, ISCT etc).  She is the past chair of the Board of Directors of ICCBBA and she also is the chair of the ICCBBA Regenerative Medicine Technical Advisory Group.  In the Netherlands, she is a member of the Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) committee of the Medicines Evaluation Board. 

Kelly Tilleman, PhD, MSc

 Belgium

Dr. Kelly Tilleman's research experience started in the field of proteomics where she obtained a PhD in biomarker research in inflammatory arthritides at the University of Ghent in 2007. At that time she combined her scientific enthusiasm with the responsibility of quality manager at an accredited DNA fingerprinting laboratory.

As a post-doctoral fellow she collaborated with the group of Prof. Petra De Sutter, where they joined forces in several research projects. Because of Dr. Tilleman's experience as a quality manager and her interest in the wonderful world of reproductive medicine, she was able to start a new career at the department of Petra de Sutter in November 2009. She combined her experience as the quality manager of the fertility centre and the bank for reproductive tissues and cells with scientific research experience in the area of fertility preservation to work towards the goal of optimizing the in vitro maturation of oocytes starting from ovarian cortical tissue. Additionally, and more specifically for fertility preservation in transgender persons, her goal was to develop realistic and innovative fertility preservation for female-to-male transgender persons.

From the 1st of July 2018 onwards, Dr. Tilleman has been appointed as the director of the IVF laboratory at Ghent University Hospital. This bank for reproductive tissues and cells was licensed in 2010 and processes and banks gametes, embryos and gonadic tissues. Her fertility centre performs all IVF laboratory processes in medical assisted reproduction, runs a successful fertility preservation program and performs embryo biopsy for pre-implantation genetic testing.

Dr. Tilleman currently serves as coordinator of the Special Interest Group Safety and Quality in Assisted Reproductive Technologies (SQART) of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Additionally, she collaborates in drafting the guide for quality and safety of tissues and cells issued by the EDQM as a Belgian representative, and has participated as project leader of an ART specific work package in EUROGTPII project funded by the Health Program of the European Union.