Transplants.org Launches as Centralized Education and Navigation Platform for Organ and Stem Cell Transplant Patients

New nonprofit simplifies the transplant journey with clinician-backed guidance and transparent outcomes data

WASHINGTON, May 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transplants.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, today announced its debut as a first-of-its-kind, technology-first platform supporting both organ and stem cell transplantation. Designed to empower patients and caregivers throughout the transplant journey, the platform brings together trusted patient education, care navigation, and outcomes data — powered by resources and insights shared by more than 25 leading U.S. transplant centers, including Johns Hopkins Medicine, Stanford Medicine, and Duke Health.

Transplants.org is governed and guided by leaders of nationally recognized academic medical centers and former federal health agencies. Its Board of Directors and Advisory Committees bring together transplant directors from Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Vanderbilt Health, and UCLA Health — alongside former senior officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. House of Representatives — ensuring the platform’s independence, clinical rigor, and patient-first mission.

“As a transplant physician, I’ve seen firsthand how complex and challenging navigating the transplant experience can be,” said Dr. Kelly Schlendorf, Section Chief of Heart Failure and Transplantation, and Medical Director of Adult Heart Transplant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center — the world’s largest heart transplant center — and a member of the Transplants.org Medical Advisory Committee. “Transplants.org promises to be a trusted nonprofit resource empowering patients and families through a lifelong transplant journey, with transparency and support at the forefront of their mission.”

The Critical Gap in Transplant Care

Co-Founder and CEO Tristan Mace and his wife, Jordan Mace, Co-Founder of Transplants.org, navigated the organ transplant experience firsthand when Tristan received an emergency heart transplant in 2021. After his transplant, the couple created Valeos, a data research collaborative that now complements Transplants.org’s patient-facing efforts.

The Maces worked closely with patients, clinicians, and transplant centers and saw a consistent challenge: critical transplant knowledge exists, but it was fragmented, dense, and difficult to navigate.

That gap was further reinforced through an analysis conducted by Transplants.org in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University and Oracle, which identified the need for a centralized, patient-first platform to standardize and simplify transplant education at scale. The analysis — the largest known systematic review of organ transplant patient education materials to date — examined more than 100 patient education handbooks from 23 U.S. transplant centers, including 80% of the nation’s 20 largest centers.

The urgency of this need is reflected in the scale of transplant care nationwide. More than 103,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for an organ transplant. In 2024, more than 49,000 organ transplants were performed nationwide, along with more than 23,000 blood stem cell transplants in 2023, according to federal data.

“Transplant candidates and their families are often handed physical binders of information at the most challenging moment of their lives,” Mace said. “We’re building Transplants.org to harness the expertise of clinicians while translating that knowledge into something patients and families can easily use and understand. Transplant patients have long lacked a unified, trusted resource similar to the American Cancer Society in cancer care. We are changing that.”

Modern Infrastructure for Modern Transplant Care

Designed to support the broad transplant ecosystem, Transplants.org spans solid organ transplants — including kidney, liver, heart, and lung — and autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplants.

Using AI-enabled data structuring, Transplants.org transforms more than 10,000 pages of research-based educational materials into a centralized, navigable platform. The platform organizes complex information into clear, digestible formats that patients, caregivers, and clinicians can access throughout the transplant lifecycle.

Through the platform, users can:

• Access structured transplant education across the full transplant journey
• Search and compare U.S. transplant centers
• Review center profiles with volume and outcomes data
  
  

As the nonprofit grows, Transplants.org plans to extend its platform to support prospective donors and living donors through education and practical guidance on donation pathways.

“What makes Transplants.org different is that it brings together patients, clinicians, and technologists around a single shared goal: increased access and better outcomes across transplant care through shared ecosystem-wide learnings,” said Stephanie Trunzo, CEO of MERGE, former senior vice president and general manager of health at Oracle, and a member of the Transplants.org Board of Directors. “After years of building the data-enabled infrastructure, this public-facing platform has real, life-saving potential.”

Transplants.org is supported in part by Lung Bioengineering Inc., a subsidiary of United Therapeutics Corporation, a founding visionary corporate sponsor. 

Patients, caregivers, clinicians, and supporters are invited to explore the platform and learn more at www.transplants.org.

About Transplants.org

Transplants.org is a patient-founded 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing a centralized, technology-first platform for organ and stem cell transplant education and navigation. The organization combines expert-vetted medical knowledge, patient-centered design, and modern technology to support patients, caregivers, and clinicians throughout the transplant journey.

Transplants.org is guided by its Board of Directors and Advisory Committees that includes former senior health leaders, policymakers, and transplant directors from leading U.S. medical centers. The nonprofit also operates Valeos, Transplants.org’s data infrastructure and research arm.

Media Contact
April Guidone
april.guidone@transplants.org

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