AlloEd partners with industry leaders to deliver expert support to the organ, tissue, and eye donation, transplantation, and allied health fields.
Our Team
David Boles, MBA, CTP
With a vision for building something meaningful, our founder brings a blend of big-picture thinking and hands-on experience. They set the tone for everything we do. David Boles is an experienced organ donation and transplantation professional with nearly two decades of expertise across tissue recovery, organ preservation, donor coordination, and transplant program management. He has a demonstrated history of leading preservation and recovery operations, supporting quality assurance and performance improvement initiatives, and collaborating with transplant centers and organ procurement organizations. David currently serves as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of OrganLink Plus, where he leads innovative referral and coordination services that support organ donation, transplantation, and medical research nationwide.
Miles Kueffner, MHA, CTBS
Miles Kueffner is a healthcare operations and partner-relations leader with 15 years of expertise in tissue donation and transplant systems. Miles's focus is on supporting donor families through comprehensive and compassionate donation discussions, training teams to efficiently determine eligibility, and ensuring recovery and transplantation policies are in line with multiple regulatory requirements, both domestic and international. Her passion lies in advancing education and training across all facets of donation to increase community awareness about the selfless gift donors and their families make.
Michael Palmisano, BS, CTBS
Michael Palmisano is a healthcare leader and transplantation professional with more than two decades of experience in healthcare, including over ten years dedicated to the organ procurement and tissue banking field. He currently serves as Director of Tissue Operations at We Are Sharing Hope SC, the federally designated organ procurement organization serving the state of South Carolina.
In his role, Palmisano leads multidisciplinary teams responsible for the full spectrum of tissue donation services, including referral intake, donor screening and eligibility assessment, family authorization, recovery operations, and regulatory compliance. His work focuses on advancing operational excellence, strengthening partnerships with tissue processors and hospitals, and ensuring tissue donation programs operate at the highest standards of quality, safety, and ethical stewardship.
Palmisano is widely recognized for his leadership in innovation, workforce development, and process improvement within tissue recovery and transplantation systems. He has helped develop training and professional development initiatives designed to elevate recovery standards and advance the professionalization of the tissue donation field. His work has also included international collaboration and education, presenting at global forums such as the International Society for Organ Donation Professionals.
In recognition of his leadership and impact, Palmisano was named one of the OUTstanding 100 LGBT+ Executives, a global recognition supported by YouTube and the leadership network Involve, highlighting influential executives who are driving inclusion and leadership across industries
Jonathan Boyd, MS, LSSBB, CTBS
Jonathan’s career in tissue donation began at Carolina Donor Services, now HonorBridge, where he held a variety of roles in tissue recovery and leadership. In 2017, Jonathan joined the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) as Director of Education. Jonathan is the Director of Tissue Acquisition at Lonza, leading a multidisciplinary team that supports clinical and research initiatives that rely on donated organs, tissues, and cells. Jonathan founded AlloEd in 2025 to address gaps in training and education within the organ, tissue, and eye donation and transplantation space.
Jonathan holds key positions within adjacent associations, including the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners (IACME), the National Association of Medical Examiners, and serves as an At-Large Governor on the board of the Association for Advancing Tissue and Biologics (AATB).
Deborah Sears, RN, MSN, CCTC
Deborah Sears is an experienced registered nurse with more than 40 years of expertise in solid organ transplantation. She has a demonstrated history of building, leading, and upgrading transplant programs, with extensive experience in ICU care, thoracic and abdominal transplantation, patient advocacy, and nursing education. Deborah is highly knowledgeable in OPTN, UNOS, and CMS policies as they relate to transplant centers, organ procurement organizations (OPOs), and organ allocation. She is also a published research author who has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and textbook chapters.
Shabnam Namin, PhD, MBA
Dr. Shabnam Namin is a biomedical engineer, executive, and subject matter expert with two decades of experience spanning regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and the commercialization of cell- and tissue-based technologies.
Dr. Shab received her bachelor’s and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Florida International University. She also holds an MBA and an MS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Miami, as well as an MS in Biotechnology from Harvard University. Dr. Namin previously served as Vice President of Research and Development at VIVEX Biologics, where she led product development for the company’s cell- and tissue-based portfolio.
She is currently the President of 42Bio, a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing novel platforms in regenerative medicine and life sciences. In parallel, Dr. Namin is the CEO of GENIX Inc., a Florida-based regenerative medicine organization focused on orthopedics, wound care, and pain management applications.
Emily L. Carter, CEBT, CTBS
Emily Carter is the Manager for Donor Services at LeMaitre, Inc. Based in Salem, Massachusetts, she has steadily advanced her career in tissue recovery since 2015. Emily is an active member of the AATB community, contributing to the AATB RADE council and Education Committee, with a focus on providing diverse educational resources. Her current role spans the nation, where she oversees cardiovascular field and virtual training and serves as a vital link with the processor viewpoint between tissue leaders and recovery teams. With a diverse medical background including EMS national certification examiner, autograft, surgical, and emergency, and specialized training in end of life decisions, Emily excels in communication with myriad stakeholders in and adjacent to the organ, eye and tissue donation industry.
Craig Nelson, MD
Craig Nelson, MD, is an Associate Chief Medical Examiner at the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh. His undergraduate and medical degrees are from Wake Forest University, and he completed his anatomic and clinical pathology residency at the University of Arizona in Tucson. His forensic pathology fellowship was at the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office, where he worked for an additional 5 ½ years until 2014 when he returned to his home state to take his current role. Since 2018, he has been the Program Director for the office’s Forensic Pathology Fellowship. In both San Diego and Raleigh, he has served as the office liaison for the local OPOs, striving to find balance between needs for organ and tissue procurement and duties of the medical examiner systems.
Frank Prather, BS, CTBS
Frank Prather has been active in tissue banking for nearly 18 years with proficiency in quality control, research and development, manufacturing (primarily focused on advanced musculoskeletal processing techniques), business management, team building/staff development, and regulatory oversight. During his tenure in Tissue Banking, Frank has worked with tissue banks within the United States and internationally as well as served on the AATB's Certification Committee.
Tim Stapleton, MHA
Tim Stapleton has nearly 15 years of experience in organ operations, leading teams through the donation landscape. Through progressive leadership roles, he has driven innovative change and growth in referral operations, clinical excellence, and in-house donor recovery solutions.
Tim holds a Master of Healthcare Administration from Queens University in Charlotte.
Emmitt A. Savannah, III, BS, CTBS
Mission-driven healthcare leader with over fifteen years of progressive leadership experience in tissue recovery, clinical operations, workforce development, and organizational growth. Possesses a sustained record of scholarly and operational contributions to regulatory excellence, clinical innovation, and systems-level improvement across tissue recovery and research programs. Has led and evaluated multi-site, high-performing teams while advancing nationally scalable education, research, and training infrastructures. Noted for operationalizing evidence-based research and pedagogical frameworks into practice, resulting in measurable improvements in quality, efficiency, workforce competency, and donor outcomes.
Craig P. Thomsen, BS, CQM/OE, CQA, CTBS
With over 30 years of experience in quality management and regulatory affairs, Craig is a seasoned leader and consultant in the life sciences industry. His career spans extensive expertise in compliance with US FDA regulations (HCT/P and medical device), CLIA laboratory requirements, accreditation standards (ISO, AATB, CAP, ASHI), and international GMP expectations.
As the president and principal consultant of his independent practice, Craig provides customized quality management systems and regulatory affairs solutions to biological, medical device, and medium- to high-complexity laboratory organizations, fostering innovation and compliance. In his previous leadership roles, Craig led organizational transformations by integrating management system requirements into business operations, deploying advanced electronic QMS solutions, and overseeing regulatory remediation initiatives using a proactive, risk-based approach to ensure compliant, sophisticated, scalable, and sustainable results.
Craig is recognized for his strong leadership, meticulous problem-solving, and ability to align executive vision with operational excellence. He excels in quality system optimization, regulatory strategy development, audit readiness, and fostering collaborative environments to ensure compliance and continual improvement.
Certified as a Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence, Quality Auditor, and Tissue Bank Specialist, Craig remains an active contributor to professional organizations, including the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and the American Society for Quality (ASQ). A sought-after speaker and co-author of quality-focused resources, he exemplifies a commitment to advancing the “Culture of Quality” in the field.
Craig holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Sociology from Ohio University.