Congratulations to Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), Seton Hill!  The Colby Foundation awarded and funds the Colby Cassani Endowed Lectureship Series at the school biennially.

2014 Presentation:

8:30 – 9:00am - Starla Cassani

9:00 – 10:00am - Amy Weisgerber

10:00 – 11:00am - Peter Abrams, MD

Starla Cassani spoke about organ donation from the perspective of a donor’s family and as co-founder of the Colby Foundation.

Amy Weisgerber, BA, HDS-C, CPTC, In-House Coordinator at UPMC Presbyterian, spoke as a representative of the Center for Organ Recovery and Donation (CORE).  CORE is a federally designated non-profit organ procurement organization (OPO) whose mission is “promoting donation, education and research for the purpose of saving and improving lives through organ, tissue and cornea transplantation.”  CORE’s region encompasses western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, NY, a region that includes 155 hospitals and 6 million people. 

Peter Abrams, MD, is the Surgical Director of the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program at the Center for Abdominal Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Disease at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA.  His specialties include abdominal, kidney, liver and pancreas transplantation, as well as liver cancer and liver surgery.  He spoke about his experiences in these fields.