Alan Lippman, MD and Linda Costanzo, PhD: Human Organ Transplantation: History and Ethics Intersect

MHSNJ Zoom Program—Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 7 pm EST

Speakers:       Alan Lippman, MD, and Linda Costanzo, PhD

Topic:             Human Organ Transplantation: History and Ethics Intersect

Summary

The growth of human organ transplantation over the past 70 years has dramatically improved the health and lifespan of many people with organ failure. Nonetheless, documented attempts to use tissue transplantation for medical purposes go back to the Renaissance, and ancient texts suggest such efforts may have occurred even earlier.

Dr. Lippman will discuss the current state of organ transplantation and briefly explore how future opportunities could lead to further advances in this medical field. He will then trace the modern history of tissue transplantation, beginning in the mid-16th century, and follow its development as a scientific discipline in the mid-20th century, starting with kidneys and then expanding to the liver, heart, and other vital organs. It now also includes applications such as bone marrow and stem cell therapies.

Although scientific advances have expanded opportunities for clinical transplantation, a significant challenge remains in ensuring that these procedures adhere to ethical principles, including personal autonomy, beneficence (and its counterpart, non-maleficence), and social justice. Recent events emphasize the importance of upholding these principles.

Dr. Costanzo will then recount the story of the first heart transplant performed in May 1968 at the Medical College of Virginia. Conducted by Dr. Richard Lower, the transplant at MCV drew significant attention because of racial issues—the heart of a Black man, Bruce Tucker, was transplanted into a white businessman—along with concerns over the lack of consent from the donor's family and the ambiguous definitions of brain death at that time.

The lack of clarity about the definition of brain death led to a wrongful death lawsuit against Dr. Lower and other physicians in 1972. The family’s attorney was L. Douglas Wilder, who later became Governor of Virginia. In 2025, as part of reparations to the Tucker family, MCV renamed its main auditorium in honor of Bruce Tucker. 

About the speakers

Alan J. Lippman, MD, FACP

Alan Lippman is a 1965 graduate of Hahnemann Medical College (now Drexel University), did his medical residency at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, and was a Fellow in Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.  Now retired, he spent his 47-year professional career practicing medical oncology, including direct patient care and conducting clinical trials of cancer chemotherapy.  He was a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (now Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School).

Dr. Lippman served on the Bioethics Committees of the Medical Society of New Jersey and on those of the various hospitals with which he was affiliated.  He was Chair of the Institutional Review Board (clinical research committee) at Newark Beth Israel.

Dr. Lippman has served on the editorial boards of several periodicals for the health professions, including MDAdvisor and New Jersey Medicine (the journal of the Medical Society of New Jersey). He is a Past President of the Oncology Society of New Jersey and the Medical History Society of New Jersey, where he currently serves as Program Chair and editor of the book review section of the MHSNJ website.

Linda S. Costanzo, PhD

Linda Costanzo earned her doctoral degree in pharmacology from The State University of New York and completed her postdoctoral training in physiology at the Weill Cornell Medical College.  She spent 46 years as a faculty member and in administrative roles, including Associate Dean for Pre-Clinical Medical Education, at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, where she is now Professor Emerita of Physiology and Biophysics.  In retirement, she continues to teach second-year medical students and serve on the admissions committee.

A renowned physiology instructor, Dr. Costanzo has received numerous teaching awards, including those of the medical school and the university, as well as several distinguished professional organizations, including the American Physiological Society and Alpha Omega Alpha.