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.
Helen Irving, RN, MBA
President & CEO
Irving was appointed President & CEO of LiveOnNY in 2011. The former critical care nurse brings 30 years of clinical and business expertise to the transplant field, including her role as VP of Hospital Operations at Mount Sinai Medical Center. She established the LiveOnNY Foundation, and played a key role in launching New York’s first face transplant program with NYU Medical Center.
Jim Aranda
Vice President of Administration & Chief Financial Officer
Aranda heads the organization's Finance and IT departments. He joined LiveOnNY in 2001 as Chief Financial Officer and was promoted to Vice President of Administration in 2009. Previously, he had been employed at Hazelden New York, a nonprofit substance abuse treatment facility, where he worked in various capacities including Director of Financial Operations. Aranda is a Cornell University graduate with an economics degree.
Amy L. Friedman, MD
EVP & 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.
Jeff Lewis, RN
Vice President of Clinical Operations
Lewis is the Vice President for Clinical Operations. He began his work in organ donation in 1989 and joined LiveOnNY in 1996. Previous roles at LiveOnNY included Director of Referral & Recovery and Director of Clinical Services. Lewis has worked in many settings, including the neurosurgical ICU at the University Hospital of Cleveland, the open-heart unit at the Cleveland Clinic and in the trauma and burn units at the University of Washington.
Michelle Clayton Lucas, Esq.
Vice President of Human Resources & Corporate Compliance Officer
Lucas oversees LiveOnNY's Human Resources Department and was appointed to the position in 2000. Additionally, she serves as the organization’s Corporate Compliance Officer. Before joining LiveOnNY, Lucas held administrative positions at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center.
James Pardes, MBA, MEd
Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Pardes joined LiveOnNY in 2011 and has over 20 years of marketing and management experience across the consumer packaged goods, sports, and health care industries. Prior to LiveOnNY, Pardes served as Director of International Marketing Partnerships at the NBA; Group Director of the NASCAR-Sprint partnership at Octagon, and Brand Manager at Unilever. Pardes is an elected panel member of the National Advertising Review Board.
Rabbi Ari Perl
Vice President of Jewish Community Engagement & Multicultural Education
In addition to educating the Jewish community about organ donation and guiding Jewish families through the process, Rabbi Perl leads a new initiative to similarly serve other religious & cultural communities in the NYC area. Rabbi Perl earned a BA, MA and ordination from Yeshiva University and over a distinguished 20-year rabbinic career served as president of the Rabbinic Association of Greater Dallas & VP of the Rabbinical Council of America.
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
President, GNYHA Ventures, Inc.
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
Peter Crean, Esq.
Partner, Martin Clearwater & Bell LLP
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
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
Dr. John Morley, MD FACP
Patrick O’Shaughnessy, MD
CMO, Catholic Health System Long Island, Public Member
Harriet Rabb
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 a federally designated non-profit organization committed to giving New Yorkers a second chance at life through the power of organ donation. Since 1978 we have saved lives, provided comfort and strengthened legacies.
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
See our recent press releases.
Want the quick facts? Download our fact sheet.