An Allegheny General Hospital heart transplant specialist has been named to the national Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation.

Raymond L. Benza, director of the heart transplant program at Allegheny General's Gerald McGinnis Cardiovascular Institute, will join other doctors, ethicists, and representatives of organ donors and recipients on the committee, which advises the federal government on how to make the nation's organ transplant system fair and efficient.

Dr. Benza was appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and will serve a three-year term.

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