The Carlos and Marguerite Mason Center for Organ Donation and Transplant Education and Policy

The Carlos and Marguerite Mason Center for Organ Donation and Transplant Education and Policy is an endowed Center that exists within Mercer University School of Medicine to promote organ donation by focusing on the facets of donation—cadaveric and living donors for the state of Georgia. Its objective is to provide education to medical students, healthcare professionals and people across the state of Georgia by designing curriculum, offering seminars and community programs, having the Mason Center’s director speak to health professionals and community groups, writing policy papers, presenting research at state and national meetings to enhance the visibility and viability of the organ donation issues.

Mission Statement

To increase knowledge and awareness of organ and tissue donation and transplantation in rural populations, healthcare professionals, and medical students.

Objectives

• Create an organ and tissue donation and transplantation educational unit (lecture, case studies, and discussion) for Mercer University School of Medicine students, and other schools at Mercer University
• Offer a rural transplantation concentration within the Bioethics and Medical Humanities Graduate Certificate for medical students
• Organize and host conferences, seminars, and community programs on barriers to donation and best practices for transplantation among rural, medically underserved populations
• Establish a network of funded researchers publishing on the ethics and policies of transplantation to enhance the visibility of the organ donation issues
• Expand online library materials for students and faculty working on organ and tissue transplantation
• Support research into the knowledge and attitudes around donation and transplantation among rural residents of Georgia
• Present research at state and national meetings and write policy papers on organ donation and transplant issues
• Collaborate with regional organ procurement organizations that serve rural areas in order to increase organ and tissue donation amongst the rural population in Georgia

Current Projects

• Project ECHO – Virtual organ and tissue donation and transplantation education to rural healthcare practitioners in cooperation with the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center. Learn more
• Summer Scholars Research Project – Students orient and train as an Organ Procurement Organization Family Service Coordinator through Sharing Hope South Carolina. Students are also clinically involved with organ recovery, working with medical staff and donor families, including on-call clinical rotations.
• Research with the Recently Deceased: A Qualitative Study of Rural Georgia Population Understanding and Attitudes – PhD students in MUSM’s Rural Health Sciences program will interview adults living in rural ares of Georgia to investigate public perceptions, reactions, and concerns about organ donation and transplantation.

Call for Research Proposals

The Carlos and Marguerite Mason Center for Organ Donation and Transplant Education and Policy is requesting proposals for its research grant program. This call supports the generation of evidence from research that responds to one of the Mason Center’s high-priority areas of research focus. Follow the link below to learn more.

Advisory Board

• Jean Sumner, M.D., FACP, dean of MUSM (chair)
• Anne Montgomery, Ph.D., assistant program director, Rural Health Sciences Ph.D. at MUSM
• Brad Lian, Ph.D., chair, community medicine, MUSM
• Melodie Hengerer, J.D., Baker Donelson, representing OPOs and providers
• Amy Parker Zupancic, J.D., organ donor and Mercer University School of Law alumna
• Glenda Grant, MBA, executive director, Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center
• Dr. Brian H. Childs, ex officio