Marie Hilliard Appointed to OPTN Ethics Committee
BROOMALL, Pa., June 22, 2026—Dr. Marie T. Hilliard, RN, Senior Ethicist at The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), has been appointed to the Ethics Committee of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), a regulatory agency responsible to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Dr. Hilliard will serve as an At Large member, joining eighteen other professionals including other At Large and regional representatives of the United States. As an At Large member, Dr. Hilliard will represent the general membership or the public on issues of interest or concern. The Ethics Committee guides the OPTN Board of Directors concerning OPTN policies and practices related to organ donation, procurement, distribution, allocation, and transplantation so they are consistent with ethical principles.
Dr. Hilliard is well qualified to be a contributing member in providing such guidance. She continues, since 2006, to serve as an ethicist with the NCBC, responsible for its efforts to shape public policy impacting the life sciences, most significantly health care regulation, including policies impacting organ procurement and donation. She has been administratively involved in governmental health care regulation at both the state and national levels. As a Registered Nurse she remains active professionally and has served as president of professional nursing organizations. She currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Medical Association and co-chairs its Ethics Committee. As Colonel Hilliard (USA, Ret.) she has served our country for over twenty years, responsible for medic and nursing training for hundreds of soldiers. She holds the Meritorious Service Medal.
“The field of organ transplantation demands careful ethical attention, especially as we continue to read reports of allegations of failure to implement existing safeguards,” said Dr. John Di Camillo, President of the NCBC. “I am grateful that the OPTN has selected such a highly qualified ethicist with clinical experience to serve on the OPTN Ethics Committee. Dr. Hilliard has long upheld the dignity of the human person through her impressive public policy work with the NCBC, and we are very proud of her professional accomplishments. Her contributions to the work of the Ethics Committee will be invaluable.”
Dr. Hilliard stated: “I am so pleased that OPTN has recognized the importance of including an ethicist, such as myself, who not only is an academically and experientially prepared professional, but also is credentialed in religious studies and canon law. The welcoming I have received from my new colleagues suggests to me an appreciation of the role that a faith-based perspective can provide in approaching some of the most critical questions impacting humanity.”
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The National Catholic Bioethics Center provides education, guidance, and resources to the Church and society to uphold the dignity of the human person in health care and biomedical research, thereby sharing in the ministry of Jesus Christ and his Church. The NCBC envisions a world in which the integral understanding of the human person underlying Catholic teaching on respect for human life and dignity is better understood and more widely embraced in America and worldwide. More information can be found at www.ncbcenter.org.
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Contact Name Marie Hilliard, MS, MA, JCL, PhD, RN, DM
Phone 215–877-2660
Email MHilliard@ncbcenter.org
Website www.ncbcenter.org