Iowa City company aiding organ donations gets state support

DES MOINES - With the aid of state funds, a budding Iowa City company aimed at reducing donor organ loss is nearly ready to launch.

Friday, the Iowa Economic Development Authority board approved $25,000 in funding for ORGANizer, launched by entrepreneurs Dalton Shaull and Eric Pahl.

Shaull, 22, said Friday he had been working with Pahl on the project for over a year and the company has a personal connection for him.

After being in a motorcycle crash in June 2013, Shaull spent several months in the hospital. During that time, Shaull said he decided he wanted to make a difference.

'In large hospitals, there are things that, they do it today because that's how they did it yesterday. That's kind of how it is. I decided to challenge that,” he said.

After seeing firsthand the challenges one of his friends faced while waiting four years for a heart transplant, Shaull found his focus.

'I was searching for a way to improve health care and it just so happens that that led me down the path of organ transplant. It's an incredible industry, everyone is very passionate about improving lives,” he said.

ORGANizer is a communication platform aimed at improving information and decision-making between hospitals to ease the process of connecting donor organs with recipients.

Shaull said once that connection is made, health care professionals seldom let the donation fall through, but unfortunately sometimes the connection is not made.

'Once they do have those organs in hand and they have found a recipient, they do just about anything that they can to make sure that organ gets to the recipient,” he said. 'Increasing the amount of potential organs is our end goal.”

Shaull said efforts so far have been spent on research and development, creating and understanding the ORGANizer system and working with stakeholders.

With Friday's funding, ORGANizer - which has organ procurement organizations acting as pilot sites in North Liberty, Minneapolis and Seattle - should launch June 1, Shaull said.

'Glad to have support from the state of Iowa as we move toward commercialization. We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to join the mobile health revolution. There is truly a lot of great impact to be made here and we can't wait to be a part of it,” Pahl said in a statement.

Mark Nolte, president of the Iowa City Area Development Group, said in the statement he was excited for the company's potential.

'This is a wonderful investment by the IEDA. I have seen these entrepreneurs grow their business and they are dedicated and committed to not only create a business but make a change in the health care market,” he said in the statement.