TLC Couch Chat! is an educational web series featuring conversations with medical professionals, patients, advocates, and subject-matter experts about liver health, transplantation, and organ donation.
Each episode explores a focused topic through professional knowledge, lived experience, and open conversation. We make room for the questions people may be unsure where—or how—to ask, while helping viewers better understand complicated issues affecting the liver community.
Matthew A. Freil
Director of Business Development & Transplant Accounts Management
Matthew A. Freil is Director of Business Development & Transplant Accounts Management for NORA, where he works with transplant centers, organ procurement organizations, tissue banks, and healthcare systems to strengthen the transportation networks supporting organ donation and transplantation.
With more than 20 years of experience across emergency medicine, organ procurement, transplant operations, aviation logistics, quality improvement, education, and business development, Matthew brings a rare understanding of the full transplant continuum.
He began his career as a Nationally Registered Paramedic before joining LifeNet Health, where he spent nearly a decade coordinating complex organ recoveries and the clinical, staffing, aviation, and transportation operations behind them. He later led clinical services at Buckeye Transplant Services, supporting more than 22 transplant programs nationwide and helping develop standardized training and quality improvement initiatives.
Today, Matthew works with healthcare leaders and industry partners to address the evolving transportation demands of organ recovery, living donation, machine perfusion, and emerging preservation technologies. He believes transportation is not simply a logistical function, but an essential extension of patient care.
Matthew remains active in transplant education and professional service through organizations including ABTC, NATCO, NREMT, and NAEMT. Throughout his career, his focus has remained the same: bringing together people, systems, and organizations to give every donated organ the greatest opportunity to save a life.
PAST EVENTS
Frank Hood
Director of Hep B United &
Associate Director of Policy & Partnerships, Hepatitus B Foundation
Frank Hood is Director of Hep B United and Associate Director of Policy and Partnerships at the Hepatitis B Foundation. He connects people living with hepatitis B and advocates with policymakers, helping advance access to screening, treatment, and vaccination. Before joining the Foundation, Frank spent six years in federal viral hepatitis advocacy and six years organizing for community, union, and political causes. He holds degrees from Ball State University and George Washington University.
Mike Providence is the Director of Policy & Planning for the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). For the past five years, Mike has led AASLD’s patient engagement activities, which include serving as liaison for the Patient Advisory Group, which builds the patient programming and overall experience at The Liver Meeting each year. He also now leads AASLD’s public policy and governance activities. Mike is a certified association executive, and serves on multiple committees in the association community.
Mike Providence
Director, Policy and Planning, People & Strategy
AASLD
My name is Gloria Akins Clark. I am happily married to Kenneth Clark, Sr. We have a 24 year old son named Kenneth, Jr. We live in Bainbridge, Ga. I was born and raised in the Faceville-Fowlstown community. They are little country towns south of Bainbridge, Ga. My mother was a single mom with 3 kids. I had 2 older brothers. They were both considered “special needs”. Although, I was the youngest, I actually looked after them. It was tough growing up. We didn’t have a whole lot, but we survived . We eventually moved to town (BAINBRIDGE) when we got older. As the years passed, our mom was diagnosed with chronic PKD. She continued to work as long as she could to make ends meet; she denied having it for as long as she could. She ended up on dialysis. She started out doing periteneal; loved it!….. but eventually had to go to the center. I was her caretaker and my brother’s “sista momma”!
Long story short….. all of her siblings except for one had PKD; we’ve had several relatives on dialysis. She passed away after almost 30 years on dialysis. My oldest brother did dialysis before he passed away. I was his caretaker. My other brother currently has PKD. I’m his caretaker.
Moving forward…. I was diagnosed with chronic PKD in my early 30’s. Later diagnosed with polycystic liver disease. I was on the transplant list for 7 months before getting a kidney and liver transplant July 23rd 2022, and kidney transplant the very next day! :-). I was transplanted at UF Health Shands in Gainesville, FL (3 hours of Bainbridge) My husband was my caretaker.
I will be 4 years post transplant, July 23, 2026.
Corinne Erickson, MD, FAAD
Board-Certified Dermatologist & Owner of Georgia Skin Specialists
Dr. Corinne Erickson, a board-certified dermatologist and owner of Georgia Skin Specialists, brings over 14 years of experience to helping you achieve radiant, youthful-looking skin. Dr. Erickson has a particular passion for aesthetic dermatology treatments, specializing in advanced techniques to enhance your natural beauty and promote skin longevity. She has received the prestigious recognition as a Top Doctor by Atlanta Magazine in 2024 and 2025.
Dr. Erickson is proud to be a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner, making her the only dermatologist in Georgia to have completed this prestigious certification. This advanced training allows her to provide expert, evidence-based care for women experiencing skin and hair changes related to hormonal shifts and menopause. By combining her dermatologic expertise with a deep understanding of hormonal health, Dr. Erickson offers a truly integrative approach to supporting women through every stage of life.
A native of Georgia, Dr. Erickson‘s impressive educational background includes an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, medical school at the University of Rochester, and her internship and dermatology residency at the University of Maryland.
A trusted expert, Dr. Erickson regularly contributes to esteemed dermatologic journals, ensuring she remains at the forefront of the field. Outside of her practice, Dr. Erickson is a devoted member of Atlanta’s philanthropic community, supporting various organizations. In her free time, she enjoys tennis, pilates, writing, and cherishing moments with her husband, two children, and three doodles.
Alex Timothee, MBA, CTP, CPBMT, is the founder of Gold Standard Preservation, a clinical services organization dedicated to supporting organ recovery and organ perfusion for transplant programs. With more than 20 years of experience in healthcare, Alex has built his career around the critical work that happens between donation and transplantation.
As a Certified Transplant Preservationist and Certified Perioperative Blood Management Technician, Alex brings a multidisciplinary background in clinical operations, surgical support, organ preservation, and machine perfusion. Through Gold Standard Preservation, he leads a team focused on honoring the donor gift, supporting transplant teams, and helping create more opportunities for patients and families waiting for a second chance at life.
* Purchase Kendon's book here:
Kendon is a powerful voice for patient advocacy and resilience. His journey is defined by his triumph over a near-fatal battle with alcohol-associated cirrhosis and a life-saving liver transplant. Despite facing a less than 1% statistical probability of survival, he emerged as a "glitch in the system" to prove that recovery is possible even when the odds are stacked against you.
As the founder of Beautiful Scars: The Movement, Kendon bridges the gap between medical data and the human soul, teaching others to view their medical journeys not as signs of weakness, but as "blueprints for their greatest strengths". Combining lived experience with leadership to humanize medicine and inspire those navigating the complexities of liver health and addiction recovery.
* 15% of proceeds go to The Liver Circle
Janice Sedgwick:
Director, Public & Professional Education Georgia Eye Bank, Inc.
Mark McIntosh, a Colorado sportscaster, community advocate, and living kidney recipient, is the chair of the Denver Host Committee for the 2026 Transplant Games of America. He is leading the effort to bring the event to the Mile High City from June 18-23, 2026, which celebrates the life-saving power of organ, eye, and tissue donation
On August 12 2013, Gavin Class suffered an exertional heat stroke during football practice at Towson University. His body temperature reached an estimated 111 degrees. Upon arrival at the hospital Gavin was in a coma with significant organ failure. He was then transferred to The University of Maryland Medical Center Shock Trauma, where his heart stopped and he needed to be resuscitated.
The doctors told his family “He is as close to dying without being dead.” After being stabilized, it was determined that he was in need of a liver transplant. He was put on a new MARS (Molecular Adsorbent Recirculating System) machine. A state-of-the-art rescue device for patients with hepatic failure.