Matt Harmody, MD, MBA, is a retired emergency physician, living kidney donor, and endurance athlete. Inspired by his father’s battle with kidney failure, he donated a kidney to a stranger in 2017 through the National Kidney Registry’s paired-exchange program—an act that sparked his lifelong mission to advocate for donors, mentor those considering the gift, and fight for policies that expand access to transplantation.
He currently serves as board chair of the National Kidney Donation Organization and is a principal in a nonprofit organization that is working to reform federal law and end the nation’s chronic kidney shortage. His advocacy has taken him from mentoring individuals one-on-one to briefing congressional leaders on Capitol Hill.
An adventurer at heart, Matt has completed ultramarathons and multiday adventure races, and, in 2022, he summited Mount Kilimanjaro with 21 fellow kidney donors on World Kidney Day. In 2023, he joined a Guinness world record-setting team that climbed the highest peaks in all 50 U.S. states.
Matt lives in Southern Pines, North Carolina, with his wife Susan. They have two adult sons and one grandson. Ascending America is his first book.
