Kidney Transplant Program

Kidney Transplant

Transplant Team

	S. John Swanson III, M.D., FACS Chief of Transplantation Surgery
	Velma P. Scantlebury, M.D., FACS Associate Chief of Transplant Surgery
	Stephanie G. Gilibert, M.D. Medical Director, Kidney Transplant Program
	Helen Chang-DeGuzman, M.D.
	Geri Libetti, RN, CCTC Administrative Director, Renal and Transplant Services

Gail Eastman, MSN, ANP-BC, is a kidney-transplant nurse practitioner for the program. She has been caring for patients with chronic kidney disease since 1980, after receiving her bachelor's degrees in nursing and psychology from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She moved into administration in 1985, when she began managing dialysis clinics. In 1998, Ms. Eastman became clinical director of operations for a start-up company in Hong Kong, and she spent three years traveling throughout Southeast Asia teaching health care workers dialysis policies and techniques. When she returned to the United States, she became a kidney/pancreas transplant coordinator at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She moved to Christiana Care in 2008 to become a transplant coordinator. After completing her master's degree in nursing in 2008 at Temple University in Philadelphia and earning board certification as an adult nurse practitioner in February 2009, she was named to her current job. She has a special interest in developing transplant clinics in Southern Delaware. Ms. Eastman is a board member of the Philadelphia chapter of the International Transplant Nurses Society. She is also a member of the nursing honor society Sigma Theta Tau International.

Aline Stant, MSN, is a transplant coordinator for the program. She is a graduate of the Helene Fuld School of Nursing in Camden, N.J. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing at Wilmington College in New Castle. She is certified in nephrology nursing and has cared for renal patients in many roles, mostly at Christiana Care, for close to three decades. She was the patient and staff educator in the hemodialysis unit at Christiana Care for 10 years and the nurse manager for four years prior to accepting her current position.

Terina Williams, BSN, CCTC, is a transplant coordinator for the program. A graduate of Neumann College in Aston, Pa., she has a bachelor's degree in nursing. She also has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Millersville University in Millersville, Pa. A Christiana Care employee since 1997, she has worked as a staff nurse at Wilmington Hospital in the step-down and intensive-care units and as a registered nurse in the hemodialysis unit. When she became transplant coordinator in April 2007, she became responsible for pre- and post-transplant patients with a primary focus in post-transplant.

Eileen Edge, MSW, LSW, is the program's transplant social worker. She earned her master's degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. A licensed social worker, she began working in the transplant field in 1992 with renal patients at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. As a senior social worker there, she developed the social work position for the lung and liver transplant programs and has followed hundreds of patients and their families through the continuum of care. At Christiana Care, Ms. Edge provides social-work services to transplant patients and facilitates a monthly patient support group. She is actively involved with the Delaware Valley Transplant Social Workers group, the Society for Transplant Social Workers, Gift of Life Donor Program and the National Kidney Foundation.

Nadia Hellenga, Pharm.D, is the program's transplant clinical pharmacist. She received her doctor of pharmacy degree from Albany College of Pharmacy in Albany, N.Y., and completed a residency in pharmacy practice at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa. Since August 2002, she has worked as a clinical pharmacist at Christiana Hospital and joined the Kidney Transplant Team in August 2006. She serves on several hospital committees and precepts pharmacy residents and students. Dr. Hellenga is a past president and current board member of the Delaware Society of Health System Pharmacists. Her other memberships include the International Transplant Nurses Society (associate member), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, American Society of Transplantation (including the Pharmacists Community of Practice) and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (including the Immunology/Transplantation Practice and Research Network).

Grace Franceschini is the program's administrative assistant. A Christiana Care employee since November 1999, Ms. Franceschini applies her extraordinary organizational skills to the transplant process by helping patients through the various phases of care. As the first point of contact for the program, on the telephone or in person, she is our representative to the world.

Emily Pruitt, MSN, is the program's living-donor coordinator. A 1996 graduate of the University of Delaware in Newark, she has a bachelor's degree in nursing with a minor in biology. She earned her master's degree in nursing in 2001 from Wilmington College. Mrs. Pruitt has worked for Christiana Care since 1997, including four years in occupational health and eight years in hemodialysis. Her roles in hemodialysis included registered nurse and anemia manager for outpatients.

Loretta Perry-Pinder is the program's scheduling clerk. She specializes in helping patients coordinate the various appointments necessary for a successful transplant. She is often a patient's first point of contact with the program. Ms. Perry-Pinder has worked for Christiana Care since 1976, and she joined the transplant team in 2007.

Laura Bishop, RD, LDN, MS, is the program's transplant dietitian. She is a licensed dietitian and has earned her credentials as a registered dietitian. She has a bachelor's degree in dietetics and a master's degree in human nutrition from the University of Delaware. While obtaining her master's degree, she worked as a teaching assistant for undergraduate nutrition classes and the dietetic internship program at University of Delaware. At Christiana Care, Ms. Bishop provides nutrition assessments for people who want to receive a kidney transplant or to donate a kidney. She provides consultations when transplant recipients are in the hospital for surgery and during follow-up office visits, and she also provides follow-up consultations for living kidney donors.

Tom Gay is the program's medical assistant and data specialist. He relocated from Philadelphia to Christiana Care in 2008, bringing with him extensive knowledge about transplants and valuable expertise in electronic medical records.

Christiana Care Kidney Transplant Program
Medical Arts Pavilion 2, Suite 2224
4735 Ogletown-Stanton Road
Newark DE 19713 directions
302-623-3866
866-682-6792