Whole Body Donation

The Process of Donating a Whole Body for Medical Research

A whole-body donation can provide a compassionate and humane possible choice for a funeral.

This article discusses the process and the benefits that a anatomical body donation to support medical education, the research, and development of new surgical techniques well as emergency medical skills.

No Cost Whole Body Donation for Research & Medical Education

Research for Life

"Research For Life is committed to providing compassionate services to donor families throughout Arizona and Southern California. Our whole body donor program brings donor specimens together with educators and researchers for the purpose of advancing medicine that improves or extends the quality life for people all over the world.

Over the past decade we have been a leader in our commitment to support responsible legislation that:

• would require that tissue banks in Arizona be licensed and inspected, and
• to mandate federal legislation that would regulate all whole-body donor activities.

We also continually lobby to maintain the right of all persons to choose whole body donation. Whole body donors help to save lives and improve the quality of life for current and future generations.

As a leading anatomical whole-body tissue bank in the United States, we are accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB).

Donors can make a difference and Research For Life can help facilitate their gift. We work with many cutting-edge organizations that are seeking to bring innovative medical devices or drug therapies to society that will improve and or extend the quality of life for many people around the world."

For more information check this website.

Understanding Whole Body Donation

There are plenty of misconceptions out there regarding donating your body for scientific, medical, or educational purposes, often referred to as “donating your body to science.” If you are considering becoming a donor, you probably have more than a few questions about the process. We want to help by providing some facts about whole body donation.

An organ donor can be a whole body donor in some cases.

THE FACTS Organ donation and whole body donation are unique and separate programs. However, they are equally important in saving lives by an immediate organ transplant (heart, lung, kidney) or through disease research for therapies or medicines that save or extend lives. The primary difference is that whole body donation organizations are non-transplant tissue banks. This means that they do not take live organs from a donor and transplant them into another living person. Most whole body donation programs will work with the organ donation organization to ensure that your wishes are followed as long as the anatomical specimens are viable for research or medical education.

The organ donor designation symbol on the back of your license does not imply consent for whole body donation. A donor would need to register with both the organ donation organization and the whole body donation organization and let their loved ones know they are an organ donor first and a body donor second. Also, since whole body donation is not used for transplant purposes, many more people can be accepted as donors because old age or diseases like cancer generally do not prevent your acceptance.

Check the following link for more information regarding whole body donation and Research for Life.