Where Is the Central U.S. Organ Transplant Registry Located?

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which operates the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) — the central U.S. transplant registry — is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

UNOS/OPTN Overview

• Address: 700 North 4th Street, Richmond, VA 23219
• Founded: 1984 (nonprofit); OPTN contract 1986 (National Organ Transplant Act)
• Role: National transplant waiting list, organ matching, policy development, data collection, 24/7 organ placement
• Coverage: All 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, territories

Registry Functions

• Waiting List: ~103,000 candidates (2024); real-time status updates
• Matching Algorithm: Medical urgency, blood type, tissue type, size, distance, wait time
• Data: Every U.S. transplant since 1987 (donor/recipient demographics, outcomes, center performance)
• Policy: Organ-specific committees (kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, intestine, VCA)

Regional Structure

UNOS coordinates 56 Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) and 250+ transplant centers. Richmond is the central hub; OPOs operate locally.

Public Access

• Transplant Living: Patient education site (transplantliving.org)
• Data Reports: Annual OPTN/SRTR reports, center-specific outcomes (srtr.org)
• Registration: State donor registries (donatelife.net), not UNOS directly

Common Confusion

"Central U.S. Registry" may also refer to:

• National Marrow Donor Program (Be The Match): Minneapolis, MN
• State donor registries: Each state manages its own
• Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR): Minneapolis, MN (analytics contractor)

But for solid organ transplants, UNOS in Richmond is the definitive central registry.