On a mission to solve the organ donor shortage
Interview by Stephanie Wykstra, a freelance writer and research consultant for AllTrials USA.
Josh Morrison was working as a corporate lawyer in Boston in 2011, when he donated his kidney to a stranger. Three years later, he and fellow donor, Thomas Kelly, co-founded the nonprofit Waitlist Zero to advocate for living kidney donors and support living donation.
In 2016, Waitlist Zero joined AllTrials USA and the global initiative to increase transparency in medical research by having all clinical trials registered and their results reported. On the occasion of World Kidney Day, here is Josh’s story, and why research transparency matters to him and Waitlist Zero.
“The need for research transparency … is really ensuring that everyone has access to the best drug treatment possible with the most information about the risk and safety of those drugs.”
On this World Kidney Day (March 9), Waitlist Zero is celebrating the progress made by recent legislation in New York that would reimburse living donors for their lost wages and other costs of surgery. Learn more about the Living Donor Support Act (A5475/S2498). For additional information on the benefits and risks associated with donating a kidney, visit Waitlist Zero‘s site, as well as that of the National Kidney Foundation.