Save lives. Provide comfort. Strengthen legacies.
Helping New Yorkers Live On
We are a team of over 200 – clinicians, educators, social workers and more – united around the life-changing power of organ and tissue donation. We work tirelessly day and night, 365 days a year, to help save the lives of those in need of a transplant. We also provide support and comfort to donors and their loved ones throughout the donation process, and for years after.
In addition, we work to educate and inspire our community about organ and tissue donation. We do this through educational events, media outreach, and work in our local schools and communities.
Everlasting Impact
Who We Serve
LiveOnNY serves a population of 13 million people in the greater New York City area and its neighboring counties. But we don’t do it alone. We are proud to partner with 11 transplant centers and nearly 100 hospitals to ensure that an individual’s wishes to donate are honored and lives are saved.
List of Transplant Centers.
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Cohen's Children's Medical Center Division of Nephrology
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James J.Peters VA Medical Center
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Montefiore
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New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center
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New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center
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Northwell Health Transplant Center
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NYU Langone Health
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Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute at Mount Sinai
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Stonybrook University Hospital Transplant Center
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SUNY Downstate Medical Center
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Westchester Medical Center
Our Executive Team
With a combined 185 years of experience in their fields, our executive team brings knowledge and expertise to the organization and cause.
Leonard Achan, RN, MA, ANP
President & CEO
Achan was appointed President & CEO of LiveOnNY in November 2021. Having started his career as an ICU Nurse in 1999 at Mount Sinai Hospital, he is a veteran healthcare executive with over 20 years of leadership experience. He previously served as the President of the Hospital for Special Surgery’s Innovation Institute. His leadership roles have spanned clinical, operational, marketing, communications, crisis management, digital transformation, branding, and innovation and he has served in several C-suite roles.
Jim Aranda
Chief Financial Officer & SVP of Strategic Finance
Aranda joined LiveOnNY in 2001 as Chief Financial Officer and brings 40 years of health care leadership and financial management experience. In his role, he designs, leads and implements finance initiatives that align LiveOnNY's strategic vision. He has held several roles within the non-profit and for-profit health care sectors including Financial Planning Manager, Hospital Controller, Administrator and Director of Financial Operations. Aranda is a Cornell University graduate with an economics degree.
Deena Benjamin MSN
Vice President of Hospital & Family Services
Benjamin joined LiveOnNY as Director of Family Services in 2019 before being promoted to Vice President Hospital & Family Services in 2022. She oversees the organizations outside relations with hospital partners and the work LiveOnNY does with families prior to, during and after donation. Before joining LiveOnNY, Benjamin served as Family Service Manager and Organ Recovery Coordinator at LifeCenter Northwest in Seattle for over 14 years.
John D’Abbraccio, RN, MSN
Chief Administrative Officer & SVP
D’Abbraccio joined LiveOnNY as Chief Administrative Officer in February 2022. His duties include optimizing relationships, productivity, efficiency, and service quality across various departments, disciplines, and environments, both internally and externally. Prior to joining LiveOnNY, he served as Vice President of Access Services for Mount Sinai Health System. D’Abbraccio is a Registered Nurse with over 20 years of healthcare and leadership experience.
Anthony Delli Carpini
Vice President of Strategic Financial Services
Anthony Delli Carpini was recruited to LiveOnNY in 1989 and brings 38 years of finance experience to this new role. He began his donation journey with LiveOnNY (then named New York Regional Transplant). Prior to joining the LiveOnNY team, he had six years of finance experience as an accountant at Montefiore Medical Center and a Customer Service Associate at Citibank. He was recruited to come to LiveOnNY as the Assistant Business Manager to develop and oversee the financial systems and reporting. Since then, he was later promoted to Director of Finance. Anthony Delli Carpini has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Fordham University. He is an avid runner who has completed 23 marathons and 21 consecutive NYC Marathons, each year, saying “I’m not sure I’m going to make it this year!” In his new capacity, reporting to the CFO, Tony will lead Strategic Financial Planning to build current and future financial plans that align with our new vision and strategic plan to make us the leading OPO in the country.
Chad Ezzell
Chief Operating Officer & Executive Vice President
Ezzell joined LiveOnNY as Chief Clinical Officer in 2019 before being promoted to Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President in 2021.He oversees the organization’s clinical operations and works to align and enhance team operations to save as many lives as possible. Prior to joining LiveOnNY, he served as Vice President of Clinical Services for the Southwest Transplant Alliance. Ezzell has nearly 20 years of OPO experience dating back to his first job as a per diem tissue recovery tech at LifeChoice in Connecticut.
Amy L. Friedman, MD
Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Friedman joined LiveOnNY as Exec. Vice President & Chief Medical Officer in 2013. She received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University, her medical degree and general surgery training from SUNY HSC at Downstate, and her transplant surgery training from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Friedman has been published in JAMA, NEJM, the British Medical Journal, and the New York Times and was voted 2017’s Top Transplant Surgeon, CRCA.
Dr. Connie Kristine
Chief of Staff & SVP
Dr. Kristine joined LiveOnNY as Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff in 2022. She oversees LiveOnNY’s contracting, corporate compliance, and business development. Prior to joining LiveOnNY she spent 18 years at Mount Sinai Health System in various executive roles including SVP, Chief Contracting Officer at Mount Sinai Health System and SVP, Business Development and Managed Care.
Kervens Louissaint, RN, MSN, CPTC
Vice President of Clinical Services
Louissaint became LiveOnNY’s Vice President of Clinical Services in 2022. He began his career with the organization in 2008 as a Transplant Coordinator and was then promoted to Clinical Manager in 2011, Assistant Clinical Director in 2015 and Clinical Director in 2017. Prior to his employment at LiveOnNY, he worked as a neuroscience critical care nurse at Weill Cornell Medical Center. He obtained his BSN degree at Mercy College and MSN Administration & Informatics at Molloy College.
Rabbi Ari Perl, MA, MBA
Vice President of Multicultural Engagement
In addition to educating the Jewish community about organ donation and guiding Jewish families through the process, Rabbi Perl leads a new initiative to best connect the NYC-area’s diverse religious, ethnic & cultural communities with the life-saving power of organ donation. A graduate of Yeshiva University, Rabbi Perl has served as president of the Rabbinic Association of Greater Dallas, VP of the Rabbinical Council of America, Chaplain of the Atlantic Beach Rescue Squad and is a volunteer member of a Long Island-based crisis intervention team.
Heather Phillips
Vice President of Recovery Services
Phillips joined LiveOnNY as Organ Recovery Director in 2020 before being promoted to Vice President Recovery Services in 2022. She oversees the organization’s organ and tissue recovery operations as well as triage process and organ placement. Prior to joining LiveOnNY, she served as Surgical Manager for the Nevada Donor Network. Heather has over 15 years of OPO experience dating back to her start on the tissue recovery team at LifeGift in Houston.
Safiya Raheem
Vice President of Community & Government Affairs
Raheem joined LiveOnNY in 2019. As Vice President of Community & Government Affairs, she oversees the organization’s community education, marketing, public relations, and government affairs. Prior to joining LiveOnNY she lobbied New York City and State governments on behalf of nonprofit clients and served as Director of Community Outreach for an early literacy organization. Additionally, she is a former elementary school teacher with the New York City Department of Education.
Samirat Rivers
Vice President & Chief People Officer
Rivers oversees human resources; education and training; diversity, equity and inclusion; and organizational culture at LiveOnNY. Prior to joining the organization in 2020, she worked at FPC Worldwide where she led operations, human resources, and marketing. Rivers brings 20 years of human resources experience to her role.
Heidi Evans
LiveOnNY Foundation, Executive Director
Evans was appointed founding executive director in 2016. She is a Pulitzer Prize winning health care reporter with extensive experience covering organ donation and transplantation during a 30-year career. Evans is also a two-time winner of the George Polk Award for Investigative Reporting at the NY Daily News. She holds an MS degree from Columbia University, was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, and has worked at the Wall Street Journal and LA Times.
Our Board of Directors and Medical Advisory Board
We are honored to have input and guidance from some of the best and brightest minds
in the nation. Their wisdom and support helps propel the daily mission and long-term
vision of LiveOnNY. Meet the Board.
board of directors
CHAIRPERSON
Lee H. Perlman, FACHE
Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative and Financial Officer - Greater New York Hospital Association; Former President, GNYHA Ventures
PAST CHAIRPERSON
Sander S. Florman, MD
Professor of Surgery and Director of Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute at Mount Sinai
SECRETARY
Brigitte Sullivan
Executive Director of NYU Langone Health
Treasurer
Peter Hutchings
Bruce C. Vladeck, PhD
Special Advisor
Warren Berke
Advisory Board Member at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County Hospital Center
Dr. Jeremy Boal, MD
Executive Vice President & CMO, Mount Sinai Health System
Dr. Frank Darras, MD
Medical Director, Transplantation Services at Stony Brook University Hospital
Dr. Jean Emond, MD
Chief of Transplantation, New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center
Bruce Flanz
President & CEO, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center
Dr. Laura Forese, MD
Executive Vice President & COO, NYP-Cornell
Dr. Elliot Grodstein, MD
Transplant Surgeon at Northwell Health Transplant Center
Rainer W.G. Gruessner, MD, FACS, FICS
Chairman, Department of Surgery, SUNY Downstate
Tomas Heimann, MD
Chief of Surgical Services, James J. Peters VA Medical Center
Dr. Milan Kinkhabwala, MD
Chief, Division of Transplantation at Montefiore Medical Center - Moses Campus
Leona Kim-Schluger, MD
Sydney J. Zweig Professor of Medicine and Associate Director, Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute
Dr. Paula Marcus, MD
Director of the Psychosocial Service to the Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation
Christopher Mastromano, MBA
CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals / Jacobi
Patrick O’Shaughnessy, MD
CMO, Catholic Health System Long Island, Public Member
Michael J. Pastier
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Mount Sinai Hospital
Rosanne Raso, RN, MS, NEA-BC
VP and Chief Nursing Officer of New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center
Sally Rogers
Senior VP for Communications & Development of United Hospital Fund
Dr. Edward Rogoff, PhD
Dean of LIU Brooklyn
Salvatore J. Russo, Esq.
Partner at Fox Rothschild, Public Member
Scott Salmirs, MBA
President & CEO of ABM Onsite Services
Dr. Benjamin Samstein, MD
Chief of Liver Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery; Surgical Director of Living Donor Liver Program at NYP Cornell
Dr. Lewis Teperman, MD
Vice Chairman of Surgery, Director of Solid Organ Transplantation at Northwell Health
Rev. Owen Williams
Director of Pastoral Care Services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County Hospital Center
medical advisory board list
CHAIRPERSON
Dr. Nabil Dagher, MD
Chief, NYU Langone Abdominal Transplant Surgery at NYU Langone Health Transplant Institute
Dr. Luis Angel, MD
Director of Lung Transplantation of NYU Langone Transplant Institute
Karen Berger, RN
Vice President, Transplant and Clinical Services at Westchester Medical Center
Dr. Henry Bodenheimer Jr., MD
Medical Director, Medicine Service Line at Northwell Health
Dr. Joseph Cooke, MD
Chairman of Medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Queens
Ira Copperman
Co-President of Transplant Support Organization (TSO)
Dr. Frank D'Ovidio, MD
Surgical Director of Lung Transplantation; at NYP/Columbia University Medical Center
Dr. Maryjane Farr, MD MSc FACC
Medical Director, Adult Heart Transplant Program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center
Allison Fehr
Hospital Services Specialist, LiveOnNY
Dr. Bruce Gelb, MD
Director, Renal Transplant at NYU Langone Transplant Institute
Dr. Daniel Glicklich, MD
Medical Director, Kidney Transplantation at Westchester Medical Center
Dr. Marie Le
Surgical Director at James J. Peters VA Medical Center
Dr. Brian Lima
Director of Heart Transplantation Surgery at North Shore University Hospital
William Lynch, MPA
Executive Vice President and Chief Operation Officer at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center
Dr. Ernesto Molmenti, MD PhD MBA
Director, Renal Transplantation at Northwell Health
Dr. Seigo Nishida, MD PhD FACS
Liver and Kidney Transplant Surgeon at Westchester Medical Center
Allen Norin, PhD D(ABHI)
Director, Transplant Immunology & Immunogenetics at SUNY Downstate Medical Center - University Hospital of Brooklyn
Dr. Sean Pinney, MD FACC
Director, Advanced Heart Failure & Cardiac Transplant Program at The Mount Sinai Hospital
Dr. Juan Rocca, MD
Surgical Director at Montefiore Medical Center - Moses Campus
Lorraine Ryan, Esq.
Senior Vice President Legal, Regulatory and Professional Affairs at the Greater New York Hospital Association
Dr. Pedro Sandoval, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Abdominal Organ Transplantation at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center
Dr. Scott Scheinin, MD
Surgical Director, Advanced Pulmonary Failure and Lung Transplantation Program at Montefiore Medical Center - Moses Campus
Dr. Thomas Schiano, MD FACP
Medical Director, Adult Liver & Intestinal Transplantation at The Mount Sinai Hospital
Dr. Carolyn Shih, MD MBA MPH
Director of Refractive Surgery at North Shore - Long Island Jewish Hospital
Dr. Nabil Sumrani, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery at SUNY Downstate Medical Center - University Hospital of Brooklyn
Dr. Wayne Walzer
Professor and Chairman, Department of Urology Stony Brook University Hospital
Dr. Anthony Watkins, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center
Dr. James Zisfein, MD
Chief, Division of Neurology at NYC Health + Hospitals / Lincoln
The LiveOnNY Foundation
The LiveOnNY Foundation is the philanthropic arm of LiveOnNY. Created in 2016 with seed funding from Donate Eight, the Foundation complements and enhances the work of LiveOnNY.
The Foundation’s core mission is to raise and deploy charitable contributions to help increase the number of lives saved in New York through public and medical education, innovative projects and to support both donor and recipient families through their transplant journey. By making a contribution to The LiveOnNY Foundation, you help us provide the greatest gift of all – the gift of life.
Pictured here are grant recipients Nadine and Kinsey. Nadine wrote a book about her daughter Kinsey's journey with transplant called "Kinsey's Kidney Adventure."
Work With Us
As one of the largest organ procurement organizations in the country, we aim to recruit, develop and retain talented and diverse staff members to help realize our mission. In addition to fulfilling and life-saving work, other benefits include tuition reimbursement, medical & dental plans and retirement savings with employer match and more. View our open positions or search for a career that meets your interests – then apply online!
Media Toolkit
LiveOnNY is the nonprofit organization that facilitates organ donation and transplantation in the greater New York City area. Our teams work with local hospitals and transplant centers to deliver the gift of life to the nearly 10,000 New Yorkers currently waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. We also care for the families of the selfless organ donors and advocate for this lifesaving cause.
We have several experts available to speak to the media about LiveOnNY and organ donation. For media inquiries, please contact Ali McSherry at 646-291-4637 or email amcsherry@liveonny.org
View our digital 2021 Annual Report.
See our recent press releases.
Want the quick facts? Download our fact sheet.