Board of Trustees

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Chris Shay-Downer, MBA, BSN, RN, CCTC

Chris has been a transplant nurse for greater than 25 yrs. and is a  Nurse Clinical Analyst for CareDx.  She is an active ITNS and TRIO member, has spoken internationally, and is published on a variety of transplant topics.

Lisa Sowers, BSN RN CPTC CCTC  Lisa has been working in the field of donation and transplantation for greater than 15 years. She is a Nurse Clinical Analyst for CareDx. She has also served on the Board of Directors for ITNS and The American Liver Foundation.

Barb Drobney

Barbara currently serves as Lifebanc’s Director of Finance and has been a member of this nonprofit team at Lifebanc for 18 years.  Her passion for the Lifebanc mission motivates her to continually seek ways to support and advance the life-changing work of her colleagues.

Outside of her job, Barbara devotes her time to family and other mission-driven organizations.  Deeply committed to the cause of organ, eye, and tissue donation, Barbara serves as the Board Treasurer for the Cleveland Cord Blood Center, Board Treasurer for Donate Life Ohio, a member of the Finance Committee for the American Association of Tissue Banks, and volunteers at the Transplant House of Cleveland.  

With a master’s degree in Accounting and Human Resources and additional experiences with Malcolm Baldridge Performance Excellence, Studer Group, and Lean Six Sigma, she looks forward to bringing value to the TRIO Greater Cleveland Board and chapter mission.  

Colleen Gerber 

Colleen has lived and breathed donation and transplantation for more than 35 years. As a young woman, she experienced kidney failure and dialysis, but was fortunate to receive a living kidney donation from her sister. Twenty years later, she required a second transplant and was surprised when a perfectly matched deceased donor became available. She has worked at Lifebanc, the area organ recovery agency for more than 22 years.   

Colleen holds a BA degree in Multimedia Communications and certification in Broadcast Communications. She has produced a local radio show for more than twenty years and is currently the host of the Lifebanc podcast, Let’s Talk About Life 

Lynda Corea PT, M.Ed

Lynda knows the joy of receiving and the bittersweet joy of giving. Her son, Mike, received a liver transplant at the age of 13. Nine years later, he was killed while riding his motorcycle. He became one of a handful of people in the U.S. to be an organ recipient and an organ donor. He donated his heart, lungs, corneas, skin, ligaments, tendons, and long bones. Mike’s passion became Lynda’s passion. Lynda volunteers for Lifebanc in several capacities. She has spoken for many organizations throughout the state of Ohio. When Mike passed, Lynda and her family established a scholarship fund at TRIO, awarding 14 $1,000 scholarships. They also established The Michael Allen Corea scholarship fund at Ohio State for organ recipients. 

Mary Penko

Mary is a liver transplant coordinator at University Hospitals and has been involved in transplantation for 29 years.  She has been on the Board of our local chapter of the International Transplant Nurses Society and a long-term volunteer for the American Liver Foundation serving on the Walk Committee, Team Captain for UH, and the Medical Advisory Committee.  On a personal note, Mary has 3 daughters and a cat!  

If elected, Mary plans to bring her experience to the TRIO Board because she has a passion for transplant, is excited to explore another local organization, and advocates to encourage patient involvement.

Melissa Zatek

Melissa has a master’s in nursing education and has been working in the transplant field for 15+ years.  She is a certified clinical transplant coordinator and certified case manager. She started her career at UPMC as a nurse on the abdominal transplant step down unit. Throughout her time as a transplant nurse, she has held transplant coordinator positions in intestinal transplant, pre-kidney transplant, post-kidney, and liver transplant at UPMC, OSU and UH. 

Melissa has also worked as a transplant case manager for an insurance care management company where she managed patients seeking bone marrow and solid organ transplants. Currently, Melissa is working as a pre/post-transplant coordinator for the pediatric liver and kidney transplant programs at UH.  Melissa is an active member of TRIO Greater Cleveland and was a participant on the Pre-Transplant Coordinator Panel for TRIO in October 2020.  . 

Asia Werner

Asia is 21 years old and 20 years post heart transplant having received her heart on her first birthday in December 2000. Asia resides in West Chester, Ohio attending the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing where she is a third year BSN student. Asia made her volunteer debut at the age of 18-months at a donor recognition ceremony and has continued since then promoting organ donation in the news, at the State House, speaking at high schools and visiting BMVs all in honor of her 7-month old donor, Cole, and his remarkable family.

Asia has been an athlete on Team Ohio in three Transplant Games and has helped set two Guinness World Records... one for the largest gathering of heart recipients and the second for the largest gathering of organ recipients.

With Asia’s lifelong journey, she looks forward to sharing her experience to grow the TRIO Greater Cleveland Chapter.

Annette Humberson, LISW

Annette is a licensed independent social worker with over 15 years of experience including involvement with transplantation and recipients for many years.  She formerly worked as a social worker at the Cleveland Clinic Liver Transplant Program and now works at Transplant House of Cleveland.  She works routinely with transplant candidates and recipients and guides them and their caregivers in hopes of making their journey a bit easier.  Personally, Annette has several close friends and family members who had a transplant.   With her professional and personal experience, and compassion for the many challenges experienced both pre- and post- transplant, she will bring new resources, skills, and observations to the Board.  She will also be a wonderful representative of the TRIO Chapter to the many transplant patients with whom she interacts with on a daily basis.