The REIMAGINE Podcast

What happens to transplantation when the organ no longer has to come from another human being? In this episode, Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH, sits down with transplant surgeon, scientist, and author Josh Mezrich, MD for a conversation about xenotransplantation, its remarkable history, and what the field may mean for patients waiting for an organ. Mezrich traces the story from early primate transplants...

In this episode of the REIMAGINE Podcast, host Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH, speaks with Thupten Jinpa, PhD, a former Tibetan Buddhist monk, longtime principal English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, author of  A Fearless Heart , and founder of the Compassion Institute. Jinpa reflects on his childhood as a Tibetan refugee in India, where compassion was not just a concept, but a lived experi...

In this episode of the REIMAGINE Podcast, Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH speaks with Shireen Mansouri, MD, a family physician, certified Compassion Cultivation Training Instructor, and member of the healthcare team at the Compassion Institute. Together, they explore what compassion really means: the ability to recognize suffering and respond with the wish to relieve it. Mansouri helps distinguish compass...

In this episode of the REIMAGINE Podcast, host Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH, speaks with Lisa Eyler, PhD, professor of psychiatry at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and director of the Center for Empathy and Compassion Training in Medical Education at the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion. Eyler shares how her early research in aging, resilience, optimism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder...

In this episode of the  REIMAGINE Podcast , Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH, speaks with Susan Angel Miller about the life and legacy of her daughter, Laura, who died suddenly at age 14 after an aggressive brain tumor. Amid profound shock and grief, Susan and her family made the decision to donate Laura’s organs — a decision that saved the life of Trish, a critically ill liver recipient. The gift of life...

In this episode, Gabriel Schnickel, MD, MPH, sits down with Shaochen Chen, PhD, to discuss using 3D bioprinting to develop functional, patient-specific livers. Chen is a professor in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering who is exploring the rapidly advancing field of 3D bioprinting and its potential to transform tra...

In this moving episode of the REIMAGINE Podcast, Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH, speaks with Karen Tipler, MD, an emergency physician, donor mother and volunteer advocate with Life Sharing. Karen shares the story of her daughter Claire, a vibrant young artist whose life continues to impact others in profound ways. Through the lens of both physician and parent, Tipler offers a deeply personal account of n...

In this deeply moving episode, Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH, sits down with Amy Purdy and her father, Stef Purdy, to explore a story that goes far beyond survival. At 19 years old, Amy developed meningococcal meningitis and was given less than a 2% chance of survival. She ultimately lost both of her legs, experienced kidney failure, and later underwent a life-saving kidney transplant — with her father...

In this deeply personal and thought-provoking conversation, Faiyaz Elahi recounts his unexpected descent into heart failure, prolonged hospitalization, and eventual heart transplantation. He describes the emotional and psychological trauma of critical illness, the challenge of accepting transplant as his only path forward, and the pivotal role that compassionate communication played in his journey...

In this episode, Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH,  sits down with heart transplant recipient Micah Clayborne and his mother, Brittany Clayborne, PsyD, to explore the deeply personal story behind  Transplant Teenz —a peer support community for adolescent transplant patients. After a sudden diagnosis of severe heart failure at age 13, Micah quickly recognized a gap in care: while medical treatment was avail...

*This episode launches a new series within the REIMAGINE Podcast exploring the ethical questions that shape organ donation and transplantation.* Ethics in transplantation is rarely abstract. It lives in real decisions—who receives a scarce organ, how innovation should be introduced responsibly, how informed consent should be approached, and how systems can remain both fair and compassionate. In th...

In this episode of the REIMAGINE Podcast, Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH, sits down with German Lopez — writer for The New York Times editorial board and non-directed living kidney donor — for a conversation about one of the most profound decisions a person can make: giving a kidney to a complete stranger. In 2017, German did exactly that. He recently reflected on the experience in the pages of the New Y...

Caregiving is medicine’s invisible labor, and Erin Copelan knows it firsthand. Copelan joins Gabe Schnickel, MD, MPH, to reflect on her husband's liver transplant journey, including a terrifying rare complication, and caregiver burnout. Copelan and Schnickel explore how humor and grief coexist, why one-size-fits-all support doesn’t work, and how a simple check-in can change everything:  “Are y...

Patrick Masters donated two-thirds of his liver to his brother-in-law, a father living with liver disease. In this warm, funny and deeply human conversation, Masters shares what made him say yes, what recovery looked like, and why living donation is both a huge decision and, in the long run, one that can leave a ripple far bigger than you can imagine.  Welcome to The REIMAGINE Podcast. Let's get s...

Dr.  Gary Buckholz , Professor of Medicine at UC San Diego, Director of the Sanford Compassionate Communication Faculty Fellowship, and pioneer in academic palliative care Dr.  Kimberly Bower , Pediatric Palliative Care Physician at Rady Children’s Hospital and longtime advocate for family-centered end-of-life care What does it mean to truly  care  for someone when they are facing the end of life,...

Anh Nguyen shares her story of becoming a living kidney donor. After her friend developed kidney failure, Anh stepped forward to donate a kidney, and years later she returned to UC San Diego to give again, this time donating part of her liver to a child she had never met. She reflects on the gratitude she felt waking up from surgery, the compassion she learned to extend to herself during recovery,...

In this opening episode, Dr. Gabe Schnickel, Executive Director of the UC San Diego REIMAGINE Center, invites listeners into the story behind the podcast. He shares his journey as a transplant surgeon and the moments that sparked the vision for REIMAGINE. Theme music by Geoff Bowman Produced by Leila Adler