How the American Liver Foundation Is Transforming Organ Donation

Lorraine Stiehl

Credit: ALF

The American Liver Foundation (ALF) is making history with the launch of the first-ever Living Donor Network for nondirected donors — a groundbreaking initiative designed to connect generous individuals willing to donate part of their liver with transplant centers nationwide. Powered by MedSleuth’s Breeze platform, this new tool simplifies the registration and screening process for potential donors, offering a secure, streamlined way to start the journey toward saving a life. ALF CEO Lorraine Stiehl sat down with The Educated Patient to explain how the liver’s unique ability to regenerate makes living donation possible, why removing barriers for nondirected donors matters and how this effort could one day eliminate the pediatric liver transplant waitlist altogether.

The ALF just launched the first-ever Living Donor Network for nondirected donors. Can you explain what this means in simple terms and why it’s such a big step forward?

Lorraine Stiehl: ALF’s Living Donor Network is a significant step in addressing the critical shortage of liver donors in the U.S. It was specifically created to connect individuals who wish to donate part of their liver with transplant centers nationwide to help patients in need. The network will not only increase the donor pool but also offer a lifeline to patients who might otherwise face prolonged wait times on a deceased donor list, leading to a potential decline in health or even death.

ALF’s Living Donor Network, powered by MedSleuth’s Breeze platform, is an easy, simple, secure way for those who choose to register as a nondirected living liver donor. Potential donors just click Register Now (the blue button) in the top right corner of the webpage and then complete an online health history questionnaire consisting of 13 core medical sections. Once completed, the system will evaluate their submission to determine eligibility. If eligible, potential donors will be referred to a transplant center for further evaluation.

Donors have the ability to choose which transplant center they would like to be referred to as part of the initial questionnaire.

ALF’s goal is twofold: to significantly increase the number of living donor liver transplants for adults and children in the U.S. and eliminate the pediatric liver candidate waitlist.

Many people may not realize that you can donate part of your liver while you’re still alive. Can you explain how that’s possible — and how the liver regenerates afterward?

LS: Livers for transplantation come from either a deceased or living donor. Most donated livers in the U.S. come from deceased donors.

A smaller number of transplants are performed using living donors, often relatives or friends of the recipient, but also by altruistic or anonymous donors, now called nondirected donors, who step up to give a portion to their liver to someone they do not know. The person interested in donating will undergo a comprehensive medical and psychological evaluation to make sure they are healthy enough to donate.

Living donor liver transplantation is a surgical procedure performed to remove a diseased or injured liver from one person and replace it with a whole or portion of a healthy liver from another person. This is possible because the liver is the only organ in the human body that can regenerate, or grow back, to a normal size — both in the donor and the recipient — within two to three months.

The liver regeneration process happens when hepatocytes (liver cells) become activated and release growth factors. These factors stimulate the proliferation of new liver cells.

For people who are moved by this story but may feel hesitant, what would you say to someone who’s thinking, “Could I really do this?”

LS: Please remember, the person interested in donating will undergo a comprehensive physical exam that includes information regarding their medical history as well as a psychological evaluation to make sure they are healthy enough to donate. They will have diagnostic tests, imaging tests and blood tests (to learn their blood type, tissue type and cross-matching).

If you pass the evaluations and register to become a nondirected liver donor, you have the potential to give someone the gift of life.

Nondirected living liver donors can dramatically expand lifesaving liver transplants, especially for patients who cannot find a living donor or a match from family or friends.

With nearly 9,300 people in the United States waiting for a liver transplant right now, the need for living donors is so great. As a nondirected living donor, you can give someone a second chance at life.

Finally, what’s your biggest hope for how this initiative will change the future of liver transplantation in the U.S.?

LS: By launching ALF’s Living Donor Network, our greatest hope is that we can eliminate the pediatric liver candidate waitlist and substantially increase the number of living donor liver transplants for adults and children in the U.S. No one should die while waiting on a lifesaving organ.