Congratulations to 40 Under 40 Winner: Paul Myoung, Executive Director, Mass General
Get to Know Paul:
Age (as of December 31, 2023): 39
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Alma Matter: New York University
Number of Years of Experience in Healthcare: 12+ years
Someone You Look Up to in the Industry: Anthony “Tony” Armada, FACHE
Favorite Hobby: Making and tasting hot sauce
Favorite Movie of All-Time: Scent of a Woman
Favorite Band or Musician: AC/DC
Your Favorite thing about healthcare: Working with smart and creative people in caring for patients with the most need and inventing new ways to solve old problems.
Why is this candidate a good fit for 40 under 40?
From an early age Paul has had a curious, growth driven, and creative mindset. Born from immigrant parents, learning English at the age of seven, and Paul discovered at an early age the value of hard work and developed a strong sense of duty in serving others. As an adult he pursued becoming a physician and fortunately realized along the journey that his net impact would be more valuable and at a larger scale by serving as a leader in healthcare administration rather than as a clinician. He realized his calling was to serve those who serve others. When Paul mentors early careerists and gives graduate students advice, he regularly reminds them that becoming a leader is not a form of discovery but a process of elimination. He has been fortunate enough to have worked with and for leaders in the past that provided necessary context on what not to do to be an effective leader of organizations, just as much as what to do as a leader of people. Although we tend to remember those who we do not wish to emulate, we should not forget the leaders who gently espouse the values we seek to practice and quietly blaze the path for those seekers to follow. Paul is not one to look for recognition or accolades, but given the time he has spent in becoming his best version of a leader in healthcare administration and his effort to transform the U.S. organ transplant system, this honor to be recognized as a 40 under 40 is a once in a lifetime opportunity, given he will turn 39 before the end of 2023.
Explain this candidate’s professional accomplishments.
Paul has made a tremendous contribution to his organization and the field of organ transplantation in the United States. Through his stalwart leadership, inclusive decision-making and effective execution, the Mass General Transplant Center has grown to become the most comprehensive and largest transplant center in New England in terms of transplant volume, saving over 350 patient lives every year. Paul is a builder by nature. He has built new clinical programs at MGH, multidisciplinary teams, and collaborative relationships, which enabled the restructuring of the Liver Transplant Program to become the first clinically integrated program across the Mass General Brigham health system. He has also spent years developing the business case to open the world’s first of its kind Center for Clinical Transplant Tolerance that focuses on clinically inducing transplant recipients to “tolerate” their transplanted organ, so that the need for life-long immunosuppression (including the terrible side effects) would be completely eliminated. This Center will officially launch in the Fall of 2023. This clinical innovation could change the entire field of organ transplantation, along with many other innovative approaches to improving access to life-saving organs, organ preservation technology, and patient outcomes. Paul has also led paradigm-shifting initiatives that allowed previously discarded organs, either due HIV or Hepatitis C positivity in the donor, to now be used while prophylactically treating the recipient against passed on infection. He also administratively led the adoption of using discarded hearts from donors deceased by circulatory death (DCD) through the use of an innovative technology called ex-vivo perfusion, which mimics the body’s circulatory system and increases organ shelf-life for transportation from furthers distances. Paul is also heavily involved in clinical innovation in the organ transplant space, particularly with xenotransplantation and cryopreservation. Paul has contributed to improving the lives of patients seeking organ transplant care at Mass General Hospital by continuing to serve those who serve others. What brings him the most satisfaction is to help others achieve their untapped and unrealized potential. Through his direct leadership and wide influence, Paul has made significant changes to the field of transplantation at Mass General and the nation.
How does the candidate show commitment to the industry and bettering their professional career?
Paul has a strong sense of duty to give back to the field and give forward to the next generation of healthcare leaders. He benefitted greatly from mentorship and coaching at an early stage in his career, and seeks to provide personal ongoing mentorship to graduate students and early careerists. In 2019 Paul received the Thomas C. Dolan Executive Diversity Program Scholar, and a Recognition Award from the Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Paul is also a Fellow of ACHE, and serves on the local Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Committee. On the national stage, Paul has been a speaker on numerous topics that relate to healthcare leadership, organ donation policy, transplant administration, and clinical innovation. He has served on multiple United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Committees, and spoke at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine regarding ways to improve the U.S. organ donation and transplantation system through federal policy change. Paul is also a former Board Chair for The Alliance on Organ Donation and Transplantation, and currently serves on its Board of Directors and the co-chair of the National Critical Issues Forum.
