The REIMAGINE Podcast

*This episode launches a new series within the REIMAGINE Podcast exploring the ethical questions that shape organ donation and transplantation.*

Ethics in transplantation is rarely abstract. It lives in real decisions—who receives a scarce organ, how innovation should be introduced responsibly, how informed consent should be approached, and how systems can remain both fair and compassionate.

In this foundational conversation, Gabe sits down with bioethicists Brendan Parent and Anji Wall to explore how ethical questions arise in clinical practice and policy, how ethicists actually approach “should” questions, and why transplantation presents a uniquely complex ethical terrain.

Together they discuss the role of bias, informed consent, scarcity, and innovation, as well as emerging challenges surrounding technologies like normothermic regional perfusion and xenotransplantation. The conversation also explores how ethical inquiry can help guide innovation rather than simply reacting to it.

This episode sets the stage for an ongoing series examining ethics across transplantation policy, living donation, emerging technologies, and the evolving responsibilities of clinicians and institutions working in this space.

Guests

Brendan Parent, JD, PhD
Associate Professor in the Section of Medical Ethics and Director of Medical Ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He also directs Transplant Ethics and Policy Research for the institution. His work focuses on ethical and policy considerations that shape a fair and equitable transplant system.

Anji Wall, MD, PhD
Transplant surgeon and prominent bioethicist at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Her work focuses on clinical ethical issues in transplantation, including organ allocation, living donation, and the intersection of clinical practice and policy.

Music By Geoff Bowman
Produced by Leila Adler

In this episode of the REIMAGINE Podcast, Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH, sits down with German Lopez — writer for The New York Times editorial board and non-directed living kidney donor — for a conversation about one of the most profound decisions a person can make: giving a kidney to a complete stranger.

In 2017, German did exactly that. He recently reflected on the experience in the pages of the New York Times, and in this episode he goes deeper — exploring what drove his decision, what surgery and recovery actually looked like, and the unexpected psychological and philosophical shifts that followed.

Their conversation touches on how a single act of generosity can ripple far beyond the operating room, shaping not only the life of a recipient but the mindset of the donor and the community around them. They also take an honest look at why living kidney donation in the U.S. has remained largely stagnant for two decades despite growing need — and what storytelling, cultural change, and human connection might do to change that.

At its heart, this episode is about agency. About what we're capable of when we stop feeling helpless — and start helping.

"Nothing disproves helplessness like actually helping others."

Theme music by Geoff Bowman
Produced by Leila Adler

Caregiving is medicine’s invisible labor, and Erin Copelan knows it firsthand. Copelan joins Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH, to reflect on her husband's liver transplant journey, including a terrifying rare complication, and caregiver burnout. Copelan and Schnickel explore how humor and grief coexist, why one-size-fits-all support doesn’t work, and how a simple check-in can change everything: “Are you okay?”

Theme music by Geoff Bowman/Produced by Leila Adler

 REIMAGINE is thrilled to announce a new webinar series, Caregiver Conversations, a live, interactive series is for those who give care before, during and after transplant. Transplant caregivers shoulder profound emotional and practical burdens, yet their experiences often go unseen. Caregiver Conversations creates a regular space to listen, learn and connect — bringing compassion, mindfulness, and community to those supporting transplant recipients and donors. Each live session blends storytelling, reflection and expert dialogue to honor caregivers and model compassionate communication across the transplant continuum. Stay tuned for future webinar dates!

If you or someone you know is interested in joining this series, please fill out this questionnaire as we prepare for our first episode. You will automatically be added to our email list and receive a registration l ink when we are ready.

Website: Erincopelan.com

Patrick Masters donated two-thirds of his liver to his brother-in-law, a father living with liver disease. In this warm, funny and deeply human conversation, Masters shares what made him say yes, what recovery looked like, and why living donation is both a huge decision and, in the long run, one that can leave a ripple far bigger than you can imagine. 
Welcome to The REIMAGINE Podcast. Let's get started.
Theme music by Geoff Bowman
Produced by Leila Adler

Dr. Gary Buckholz, Professor of Medicine at UC San Diego, Director of the Sanford Compassionate Communication Faculty Fellowship, and pioneer in academic palliative care

Dr. Kimberly Bower, Pediatric Palliative Care Physician at Rady Children’s Hospital and longtime advocate for family-centered end-of-life care

What does it mean to truly care for someone when they are facing the end of life, or living with a serious illness? In this deeply personal episode, Drs. Gary Buckholz and Kimberly Bower join host Gabe Schnickel to explore the heart of palliative medicine, its misconceptions, and its often-overlooked role in organ donation, transplantation, and medical care more broadly.

Together, they reflect on their journeys into the field, including the powerful moments, mentors, and patients who shaped them. The episode also explores:

• What palliative care is, and what it isn’t
• How language and vulnerability can transform care
• Pediatric palliative care and the deep wisdom of children and their families
• Burnout, empathy fatigue, and how compassion is a replenishable resource
• The critical role of palliative care in the transplant journey, for both recipients and donor families
• How cultural denial of death in the U.S. affects decision-making, grief, and healing
• The transformative power of the Sanford Compassionate Communication Program

Links & Resources

• Sanford Institute for Empathy & Compassion at UC San Diego
• Sanford Compassionate Communication Program
• Recommended Books:
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
• A Nightingale's Song: Nursing Notes to Gentle the Journey Through Serious

From tender patient stories to reflections on grief, joy, and purpose, this episode is an invitation to reimagine what it means to show up, with clarity, kindness, and humanity, when it matters most.
Theme music by Geoff Bowman

Produced by Leila Adler

Anh Nguyen shares her story of becoming a living kidney donor. After her friend developed kidney failure, Anh stepped forward to donate a kidney, and years later she returned to UC San Diego to give again, this time donating part of her liver to a child she had never met. She reflects on the gratitude she felt waking up from surgery, the compassion she learned to extend to herself during recovery, and the quiet joy of knowing that two families, and generations to come, will carry forward from her gifts.
Theme music by Geoff Bowman

Produced by Leila Adler

In this opening episode, Dr. Gabe Schnickel, Executive Director of the UC San Diego REIMAGINE Center, invites listeners into the story behind the podcast. He shares his journey as a transplant surgeon and the moments that sparked the vision for REIMAGINE.
Theme music by Geoff Bowman

Produced by Leila Adler