On September 28, 2018 Martha Gershun donated a kidney to Deb Gill, a woman she met after reading about her need for a new kidney in the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle.  Gershun’s newest book, Kidney to Share, co-written with medical ethicist John Lantos, MD, chronicles this journey and explores the medical, scientific, and ethical issues surrounding organ transplantation. It was released in May 2021 by Cornell University Press and is available from most independent bookstores and the publisher. Here’s the link to order the hardcover, e-book, or audiobook on Amazon.

Following a highly-successful virtual book tour, with more than 35 talks at bookstores, libraries, book clubs, medical schools, bioethics centers, and hospitals around the country, Gershun has become a recognized advocate for living organ donors.  She was named a Special Advisor to the Kidney Transplant Collaborative and blogs regularly at Explore Transplant as  a Patient Engagement Living Donor Fellow at Houston Methodist Hospital.

Here are links to essays and articles Gershun has written about this adventure.  And links to presentations, interviews, and podcasts about the book and living kidney donation:

Iowa State University Lecture Series // Moderated by Clark Wolf, Director of the Iowa State University Bioethics Program // April 22, 1021

Up to Date on KCUR 89.3 FM // Interview with Steve Kraske, April 27, 2021

Living Donation Storytelling Project // April, 2021

Author Event at Left Bank Books // Moderated by Jeffrey Bishop, Director of the Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics at Saint Louis University, May 18, 2021

Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics // With remarks by Nobel Laureate and Stanford Economics Professor Alvin Roth, May 19, 2021

Author Event at the Kansas City Public Library // Moderated by Terry Rosell, Rosemary Flanigan Chair, Center for Practical Bioethics, May 26, 2021

B’Yachad Together: Spirited by American Jewish University (AJU) // “Saving a Life: Judaism’s View of Organ Donation,” a conversation with AJU’s Rabbi Elliot Dorff and Dr. Ron Wolfson, June 1, 2021

University of Pennsylvania Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy // June 15, 2021

University of Buffalo, Romanell Center for Clinical Ethics and the Philosophy of Medicine // July 16, 2021

University of Pittsburgh, Center for Bioethics and Health Law // September 14, 2021

University of North Carolina Center for Bioethics, co-hosted with the Department of Surgery // September 29, 2021

Wednesday Morning Group // October 6, 2021

Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College // October 7, 2021

Hofstra Law’s Gitenstein Institute for Health Law and Policy and the Hofstra Bioethics Center // October 13, 2021

Bioethics for the People // Podcast hosted by bioethicists Devan Stahl and Tyler Gibb, October 14, 2021

University of Colorado, Center for Bioethics and Humanities // October 14, 2021

National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Oklahoma Kidney Conference // October 22, 2021

Yale School of Medicine // November 17, 2021

Hadassah Greater Kansas City Touch of Red Gala // Deb & Martha at 24 minutes // November 20, 2021

Niagara University // November 29, 2021

National Kidney Foundation (NKF) – Giving Tuesday // November 30, 2021

Columbia University Center for Clinical Medical Ethics // December 8, 2021

Emory University Nephrology Grand Rounds // January 12, 2022

Taboo Trades Podcast: Kidney to Share // February 8, 2022

Jewish Federation of Broward County (Deb at 14 minutes, Martha at 28 minutes) // February 15, 2022

Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics // March 14, 2022

University of Chicago Medicine, The Future of Living Kidney Donor Transplantation // May 7, 2022

Kent’s Kidney Stories Podcast // May 23, 2022

Jim Myers Kidney Stories 2 // August 12, 2022

Jewish Life // TV show hosted by Stewart Ain, September 21, 2022

New Reform Temple – Yom Kippur Afternoon Study Session // October 6, 2022

People of the Book // podcast hosted by Meryl Ain, October 7, 2022

Donor Diaries // podcast hosted by Laurie Lee, January 4, 2023

Saving a Life, Saving the World:  Organ Transplant, Living Donation, and More! // Uri L’Tzedek podcast, March 30, 2023

Media coverage:

Organ Donors: The Ethics of Living Organ Donation // Cornell University Press blog, April 20, 2021

New book focuses on kidney match prompted by Chronicle story // Kansas City Jewish Chronicle, April 22, 2021

Inspired by Omaha Friends // The Jewish Press, April 30, 2021

Book Review // Jim Gleason, National President of TRIO (Transplant Recipients International Orgnanization), May 1, 2021

Market Design blog // Nobel Laureate and Stanford Economics Professor Alvin Roth, May 18, 2021

Midwest Book Review // September 2021

Johnson County Library Book Report // October 2021

A kidney donor and an ethicist discuss living organ donation, The Hofstra Chronicle, October 20, 2021

Book Review // Kim Krawiec, Professor Law, University of Virginia, January 4, 2022

Donate a Kidney, Visit Yellowstone // John Lantos, June 2, 2022