The newly created role will contribute to CORE’s mission of Saving and Healing lives through donation. 

Pittsburgh, PA, August 21, 2020 – The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) has welcomed Ahmad Abdelaal, MD, as its in-house procurement and transplant surgeon. In this newly created role, Dr. Abdelaal will perform the surgical recovery of deceased donor organs, serving as the primary procurement surgeon for abdominal organs such as kidneys, livers, pancreases and intestines. He will also provide clinical leadership throughout the donation process, assessing and reviewing organ compatibility with transplant recipient surgeons, as well as support the exceptional medical management of potential donors by CORE’s clinical staff.

Dr. Abdelaal comes to CORE with extensive surgical experience, contributing to more than 1,000 abdominal transplant surgeries during his career. He has completed transplant fellowships at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Abdelaal is a graduate of Mansoura University School [Faculty] of Medicine in Mansoura, Egypt. He is joined by his wife and two children and is looking forward to raising a family in this new community.

“I’m excited to join an organization with such a strong commitment to its life-saving mission,” Dr. Abdelaal said. “CORE is well known for its excellence, compassion and innovation. That, combined with the strong dedication of its leadership and staff, confirm to me we are well-positioned to save and heal more lives through donation and transplantation.”

With more than 110,000 people waiting for an organ transplant nationally — including more than 2,500 in CORE’s service area — the need for organ, tissue and cornea donors is great.

“Dr. Abdelaal brings a tremendous amount of expertise and enthusiasm to this position,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO, CORE. “As a crucial link in CORE’s donation process, he will help ensure a successful outcome in each case. And each successful outcome means more lives saved and healed by organ, tissue and cornea donation and transplantation.”

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About CORE

The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is one of 58 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States, serving more than five million people in western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, New York. CORE coordinates the recovery and matching of organs, tissues and corneas for transplant within our service region and works tirelessly to create a culture of donation within the hospitals and communities we serve. CORE’s mission is to Save and Heal lives through donation, ultimately ending the deaths of those on the transplant waiting list, while maintaining integrity for the donation process, dignity for the donors, and compassion for their families.