Meet the ATC’s Expert Speakers

The American Transplant Congress (ATC) brings together the people and organizations that are redefining the transplant field. This year, ATC takes place June 1-5 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The agenda will include transplantation’s leading luminaries and innovative thinkers sharing inspiring research and insights. For the full schedule, visit the ATC 2024 website.

Michelle A. Josephson, MD
Women’s Networking Event
Saturday, June 1

In 1992, Dr. Josephson became the first transplant nephrologist at the University of Chicago and built its kidney transplant program. Dr. Josephson is a professor of medicine and surgery and serves as medical director of kidney and pancreas transplantation and program director of the transplant nephrology fellowship, which she helped establish.

In addition, she is the senior faculty scholar of the Bucksbaum Institute, chairs the American Society of Transplantation’s Community Education Taskforce, and participates in several national and international initiatives related to renal transplantation. Her research focuses on social determinants and barriers to living kidney donors, the pathogenesis of post-transplant bone disease, the role of BK viremia in renal transplant, and predictors of outcomes in post-transplant pregnancy.

Peter Friend, MD
Thomas E. Starzl State-of-the-Art Lecture
Sunday, June 2

Dr. Friend holds medical and doctoral degrees from the University of Cambridge and has served as a professor of transplantation at the University of Oxford since 1999. Before joining Oxford, he established the transplant program at Indiana University. His research focuses on organ perfusion, novel immunosuppressive strategies, and pancreas transplantation.

He was elected a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020 and is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, of which he is also a vice president and trustee. In addition, Dr. Friend is a past president of the British Transplantation Society and chief medical officer and cofounder of OrganOx, a spin-out company from the University of Oxford.

The Honorable Alex M. Azar II
Paul I. Terasaki State-of-the-Art Lecture
Tuesday, June 4

Azar was the 24th Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (2018-2021), leading more than 85,000 employees with a budget of over $1.4 trillion. He led the HHS response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including developing Operation Warp Speed to expedite delivery of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. He previously served as deputy secretary of HHS (2005-2007) and HHS general counsel (2001-2005).

In addition, Azar served from 2012 to 2017 as president of Lilly USA, LLC, the largest affiliate of Eli Lilly and Company. Prior to that, Azar served as senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications and vice president of US managed health care services and Puerto Rico at Lilly.

Currently, he is an advisor to Foresite Capital and part-time adjunct professor of business and senior executive-in-residence at the University of Miami Herbert Business School. He also serves on several corporate and advisory boards.