I want to thank everyone associated with the Terasaki Institute of Biomedical Innovation for the incredible opportunity to serve as the Deputy Director of Personalized Transplant Education and Communication. The CEO, Dr. Ali Khademhosseini, the President, Mr. Stewart Han, and the Terasaki Family Foundation have fully supported my advocacy work with transplant patients and helped me honor Dr. Paul Terasaki’s legacy.
It’s been a productive four years! During this time, my research team published over 50 papers and developed multiple educational resources that focus on increasing access to transplant for underserved communities and assess the effectiveness of interventions to increase living and paired donation rates. We won grants from the Health Research Services Administration, the National Kidney Registry, the OneLegacy Foundation, the Mendez National Institute of Transplantation Foundation, OneLambda, and CareDx.
I am particularly proud of the next generation of researchers I worked with in medicine, nursing, psychology, and health communication. Many of my mentees are going on to medical school, PhD programs, and faculty positions at major academic institutions.
Starting September 2021, I am pleased to say that I will remain a Terasaki Affiliate Faculty member as I begin an exciting new opportunity in Houston, Texas. I will be joining The Houston Methodist Research Institute as the Division Chief for Patient Engagement and Diversity for the Center for Outcomes Research and the Departments of Transplant and Surgery. I am honored to accept the Deborah C. and Clifton B. Phillips Centennial Chair for Clinical Research in Transplant Medicine, and I am looking forward to improving the care of patients and mentoring the next generation of health services researchers in this new role.
Please stay in touch as I transition states! In my new role, I can be reached at awaterman@houstonmethodist.org and (314) 322-3880.