United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) CIO Berkeley Keck to Speak on Role of Technology in Managing Organ Transplants.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Berkeley Keck, UNOS Director of Information Technology, will outline how UNOS uses information technology in an address to the Greater Richmond Technology Council's "Good Morning Technology" breakfast on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2005, at 7:30am at The Place at Innsbrook.

"Information technology IS the business here," said Keck in an interview about his upcoming presentation.

"We are delighted to have Berkeley as the speaker at our December 8th breakfast. Few people recognize the important role that Richmond - through UNOS - plays in saving lives across the country," said Robert Stolle, Executive Director of the Technology Council. UNOS, based in Richmond, Virginia, is a non-profit, scientific and educational organization that administers the nation's only Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Mr. Keck will illustrate how UNOS uses information technology to manage the challenge it faces in its effort to decrease the time it takes to place an organ for transplant. UNOS also uses IT to refine how people are selected, making donor/recipient matches more specific, which decreases complications and increases patient survival.

In addition to patient matching and management, UNOS develops applications for transplantation information, using those applications to collect data on every organ transplant in the U.S. Public education is another area where UNOS leverages technology, publishing its data and analyses via the UNOS web site, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network's website, and contracted corporate sites.

Berkeley Keck is responsible for all aspects of information technology, including network and hardware operations, database operations, planning and development of all application systems, and the UNOS Organ Center. Prior to becoming Director, Mr. Keck served UNOS as the Assistant Director of Clinical Data Systems from 1995 - 1996, Manager of Registry Operations from 1992 - 1996, and Technical Training Specialist in 1992. A clinical nurse and former Captain in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Mr. Keck has more than 13 years experience in practicing and teaching many areas of medicine, including transplantation. Mr. Keck received a B.S. in Nursing from the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Master of Public Health from Tulane University.

UNOS is a private, nonprofit membership organization. UNOS members encompass every transplant hospital, tissue matching laboratory and organ procurement organization in the U.S., as well as voluntary health and professional societies, ethicists, transplant patients and organ donor advocates.

The Greater Richmond Technology Council's December breakfast is sponsored by IBM, a global leader in the invention, development and manufacture of advanced information technologies including computer systems, software, storage systems and microelectronics. IBM offers business services and solutions to small, medium and large enterprise, combining deep business expertise, powerful research capabilities, and innovative new ways of thinking to help solve today's business problems.

The Greater Richmond Technology Council is an association of businesses and organizations working together to promote the success of technology companies, and the growth of the technology sector of the Central Virginia economy.

More information or to register - www.richtech.com