When does death truly become irreversible? Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) is a cutting-edge technique in organ donation that restores circulation to vital organs after death—but in so doing it challenges the ethical and legal boundaries of determining death and when it is ethical to take a person’s organs. This debate will explore the tension between medical innovation, the Dead Donor Rule, and the trust that underpins organ donation. Join experts in ethics and medicine as we explore this complex and urgent issue.

James L. Bernat, MD

James L. Bernat, M.D. is a neurologist and bioethicist at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. Formerly the Louis and Ruth Frank Professor of Neuroscience, currently he is Professor of Neurology, Active Emeritus. Following graduation from Cornell University Medical College, he trained in internal medicine and neurology at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He has been a Dartmouth medical faculty member since 1976. His scholarly interests are ethical and philosophical issues in neurology, particularly disorders of consciousness, the definition of death, brain death, and death determination in organ donors. He has authored over 300 journal articles and chapters on topics in neurology, neurocritical care, bioethics, and biophilosophy. He is the author of Ethical Issues in Neurology, 3rd ed. (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008), co-editor of Ethical and Legal Issues in Neurology (Elsevier, 2013) and Death Determination by Neurologic Criteria: Areas of Controversy and Consensus (Springer Nature, 2022). In 2011, he received the Presidential Award from the American Academy of Neurology for lifetime service to American neurology and in 2022, the Steven E. Hyman Award for Distinguished Service to the Field of Neuroethics from the International Neuroethics Society. 

Matthew DeCamp, MD, PhD

Matthew DeCamp, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Center for Bioethics and Humanities and Division of General Internal Medicine. A practicing internist, health services researcher, and philosopher, Dr. DeCamp employs empirical and conceptual methods to identify and solve cutting edge problems at the interface of health care, policy, and bioethics. Special emphases of his research include ethical issues in artificial intelligence (AI),  engaging patients in health care organizational decision-making, and global health (with a focus on short-term global health ethics).  He serves as Director of Research Ethics for the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) and is a member of the Partnership of Academicians and Communities for Translation (PACT) Council of the CCTSI. 

Moderated by Michael Dickinson, MD

Dr. Michael G. Dickinson is a cardiologist in Grand Rapids, Michigan and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Corewell Health Grand Rapids Hospitals-Blodgett and Butterworth and Corewell Health Pennock Hospital. He received his medical degree from University of Michigan Medical School and has been in practice for more than 20 years. Dr. Michael G. Dickinson has expertise in treating heart failure, cardiomyopathy, among other conditions.