National Kidney Donation Organization announces new President
Michael Lollo is departing his role as the National Kidney Donation Organization (NKDO) President to become the Chief Operating Officer of the National Kidney Registry. Matthew Cavanaugh will become the next NKDO President. He is a non-directed kidney donor who donated his kidney in 2021 to start a chain that facilitated eight transplants.
Matthew Cavanaugh is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and will assume his NKDO role immediately as his current military duties permit, and then full-time upon his upcoming retirement. Matthew has had a distinguished career as a combat veteran and the recipient of two Bronze Stars. He was the 2009 U.S. Army Athlete of the Year. As an Army Strategist, he was the youngest recipient of the U.S. Military Strategists Association’s professional award, the Order of Saint Gabriel the Archangel. Matthew has served on the Wounded Warrior Project’s Advisory Council, as a Term Member with the Council on Foreign Relations, was an Associate Fellow with the Royal United Services Institute (UK), and is a Senior Fellow and co-founder of the Modern War Institute at West Point. He earned his master’s degree at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, and his PhD at the University of Reading (UK). His academic roles include an appointment as an Assistant Professor at West Point, Director of the Homeland Defense Institute at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and a Professor of Practice with Arizona State University. His writings have been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times, among other outlets.
Ned Brooks, National Kidney Donation Organization CEO, says, “I have had the opportunity to meet and work with some extraordinary people in my life, but being associated with Michael Lollo and Matthew Cavanaugh is a gift of which we are all beneficiaries. Michael will do great things at the National Kidney Registry, and we wish him the best. Matthew brings a broad and proven set of skills, and a determination to help eliminate the kidney crisis in this country. The kidney community is fortunate to have the services of both of these talented individuals.”
On the announcement, Cavanaugh comments, “When I donated my kidney this past September, I thought I’d recover and that would be that. But then something happened. I learned about this group of immensely generous, amazing volunteers, who just keep giving of themselves, even past their own donations. And now, to have the opportunity to help grow an organization that’s the main goal is to save lives—it’s truly a great honour and a distinct privilege.”
NKDO is the largest living kidney donor organization in the United States, devoted to eliminating the wait list for kidney transplants and protecting the interests of living donors.