Kidney Allocation: Role of UNOS and OPOs

The UNOS is a not-for-profit, private, voluntary membership organization incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia, which qualifies as a tax exempt charity under IRC section 501(c)(3). Since 1986, it has been the sole holder of a contract from the federal government to operate the national OPTN. Its story is one of the many remarkable successes in organ transplantation.