History of UNOS
United Network for Organ Sharing was founded to help the community of donation and transplant professionals make the best possible use of organs to save lives. It has played a vital role in the evolution of transplant therapy in the United States for more than 30 years.
View the history of transplantation
From the mid-1950s through the early 1970s, individual transplant hospitals and organ procurement organizations managed all aspects of organ recovery and transplantation. If an organ couldn’t be used at hospitals local to the donor, there was no system to find matching candidates elsewhere. Many organs couldn’t be used simply because transplant teams couldn’t locate a compatible recipient in time.
How we began
The South-Eastern Organ Procurement Foundation (SEOPF), an association of donation and transplant professionals, sought to increase the efficiency of organ placement. SEOPF established a computerized database in 1977 for each of its member institutions to list candidates and help them find matches for organs they couldn’t use locally. That database was called the United Network for Organ Sharing. In 1982, SEOPF launched a call center in Richmond, Virginia, to provide personal assistance with organ placement. That service, in continual operation ever since, is now the UNOS Organ Center.
By the early 1980s, more transplant hospitals were opening and many more candidates were being accepted for transplantation. The Congress of the United States passed the National Organ Transplant Act in 1984. The law called for a national network to coordinate the allocation of organs and collect clinical data about organ donors, transplant candidates and transplant recipients.
UNOS at work
UNOS was incorporated as an independent, non-profit organization in March 1984. UNOS was awarded the initial contract in 1986 to develop the requirements for the operation of the OPTN and has served as the OPTN ever since.
UNOS has grown from a handful of staff members in rented office space to an organization employing more than 350 staff members at its headquarters in downtown Richmond, Virginia. Its responsibilities have also increased and changed as the field of transplantation has matured. What has not changed is the commitment of UNOS staff to save and improve lives through uniting and supporting the efforts of the transplant community.