RPL is proud to partner with VCU and the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) to present “Transplantation, Medical Ethics, and the Pursuit of Equity,” as a way of bringing important ideas and conversations to the public.

Joel Newman (Senior Communications Strategist, UNOS) will discuss the social and medical history of transplantation and donation, with a focus on medical ethics and the ongoing pursuit of equity. He will be in conversation with Gabe Thomas, a 2nd-year medical student at VCU School of Medicine. Thomas has a passion for decreasing health disparities within medicine, increasing the representation of African American males within medicine, and mentorship of younger generations to succeed academically and socially.

The 2022 Virginia Commonwealth University Common Book is The Organ Thieves: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South, a “powerful story that examines institutional racism, mortality, medical ethics and the nature of justice for Black men living in the American South” (Kirkus Reviews). The award-winning book, written by Pulitzer-nominated journalist Chip Jones, tells the story of Bruce Tucker, a Black man who went to the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond in 1968 with a head injury only to later have his heart taken out and transplanted to the chest of a white businessman.

Contact Benjamin.himmelfarb@rva.gov about free copies of The Organ Thieves and accompanying resources to use to host your own book discussions.