Yolanda Becker, MD Joins LifeGift as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

LifeGift, a health services organization, which offers hope to individuals needing organ transplants in 109 Texas counties in Southeast, North and West Texas, announces Yolanda Becker, MD, FACS, FAST, has joined the team as vice president and chief medical officer and as a member of the organization's strategic governance council.

Dr. Becker will provide clinical operational leadership and medical direction in organ and tissue procurement activities to maximize and optimize organs recovered available for transplantation, medical therapy and research. She will serve as a clinical resource for tissue recovery operations according to tissue recovery partner guidelines. Dr. Becker also will serve as a resource for clinical quality systems monitoring and ongoing service quality development.

Dr. Becker joins LifeGift from the University of Chicago Medicine in Chicago, Ill, where she served as professor of surgery, Director of Pediatric and Adult Kidney transplant, Department of Surgery. In addition to her role at LifeGift, Dr. Becker has a dual appointment as Professor of medical education and surgery, Director of career and professional development at Burnett School of Medicine at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.

"As LifeGift's chief medical officer, Dr. Becker brings extensive experience in organ donation and transplantation including transplantation surgery, policy development, government relations, clinical research, medical education and executive leadership," says Kevin Myer, MSHA, LifeGift president and CEO. "We're thrilled to welcome Dr. Becker to our team!"

Dr. Becker received her doctor of medicine degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md, after earning a bachelor of science in biochemistry at Tulane University in New Orleans, La. She completed her residency in general surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., and a fellowship in transplant surgery at University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics in Madison, Wis.

Throughout her tenure in the transplantation community, Dr. Becker has served in a variety of leadership roles with the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Transplantation, Association of Academic Surgeons and Southeastern Surgical Congress. She is a highly respected resource in medical operational leadership and has presented at multiple national and international level industry meetings.

For more information on LifeGift, visit www.lifegift.org. To register as a life-saving organ, eye and tissue donor, visit www.donatelifetexas.org.

About LifeGift

LifeGift is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) health services organization. As the organ procurement organization (OPO) for North, Southeast and West Texas, we partner with more than 200 hospitals across 109 counties to save and heal lives. LifeGift is a founding member of Donate Life Texas, the organization that manages the organ, eye and tissue donor registry. Please visit www.LifeGift.org.