Health Podcast Library
Season 14Episode 1070

Harnessing the Power of Social Media to Find Organ Donors

Jun 29, 2026
16:35

Episode Description

About this episode:

Individuals awaiting organ transplants are often encouraged to reach out to family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues to ask if they will consider becoming a living organ donor. As social media expands our reach beyond our immediate communities, it could become a powerful tool in connecting recipients with donors. In this episode: Macey Levan, a kidney donor and researcher, explains why social media can be so useful in forging life-saving connections and what to consider when making the ask of an online community.

Guest:

Macey Levan, PhD, JD, is an associate professor of surgery and population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She also serves as director of policy and external affairs for the Transplant Institute and director of the qualitative core in the Center for Surgical and Transplant Applied Research.

Host:

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.

Show links and related content: Transcript information:

Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel.

Contact us:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Follow us:

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

Listen On

Apple PodcastsSpotify