Meet the 2026 CKF Award Winners
Community Champion - Dr. Osama Gaber
The Chris Klug Foundation (CKF) is proud to announce Dr. Osama Gaber as its 2026 Community Champion award winner. This award recognizes Dr. Gaber’s commitment to leadership, service, and the transplant community.
The Community Champion Award honors an individual in the donation and transplant community, who goes above and beyond to support transplant families and caregivers, and to raise awareness about eye, organ and tissue donation. Dr. Gaber has made a commitment to his patients, and his nonprofit, Nora’s Home.
Dr. Gaber’s career includes over four decades of experience as a transplant surgeon. While currently serving at Houston Methodist Hospital, he also chairs the Department of Surgery, and is a founder of the J.C. Walter Jr. Transplant Center.
Dr. Gaber also serves as a professor of surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. In addition to his work in the medical and nonprofit fields, Dr. Gaber has authored numerous books and hundreds of scientific publications.
In honor of his late daughter, he created Nora’s Home, a nonprofit focused on providing comfortable and safe lodging for transparent families and patients. Nora’s Home has provided a safe place to stay for thousands of families as they go through the life changing transplant process.
Throughout his career, Dr.Gaber has combined his medical expertise with leadership, and profound personal experience. His work has created an impact that deserves to be celebrated.
Bounce Back, Give Back - Alison Conklin
The Chris Klug Foundation (CKF) is proud to announce Alison Conklin as its 2026 Bounce Back, Give Back award winner. This award recognizes Alison’s resilience as a transplant recipient, as well as her dedication to uplifting others in the donation and transplant community.
The Bounce Back, Give Back Award honors an individual who has received an organ, eye, or tissue transplant, and demonstrates a life of resilience and service. Recipients of this award lead healthy and active lifestyles, while encouraging others to thrive post-transplant.
As a heart transplant recipient, Alison has turned her personal experience into a mission of advocacy. After living with hypertonic cardiomyopathy and witnessing her mother lose her life to the disease, Conklin received her lifesaving transplant in 2022. Since then, she has used her experience to make a change for others on their transplant journey.
Alison is a photographer, and founded “Bonus Days Magazine,” a magazine created for the transplant community to be able to share stories of their lived experiences. The magazine is now distributed to patients across the U.S., inspiring them with the stories of other recipients pre-, during-, and post-transplant. Since her transplant, Alison has embraced a healthy lifestyle, walking multiple miles each day. Alison is passionate about raising awareness for eye, organ, and tissue donation through her storytelling and photography.
Alison is truly representing what it means to bounce back and give back, as she demonstrates how people can live full and meaningful lives post-transplant.
Hero Award - Kristen Cowen
The Chris Klug Foundation (CKF) is proud to announce Kristen Cowan as its 2026 Hero Award winner. This award recognizes Kristen’s impact in the transplant community and how her actions have helped to change the lives of those in the community.
The Hero Award honors an individual whose journey inspires others to register as donors and to make lifesaving decisions. Recipients include living donors and donor families, who have made an impact in the transplant community.
Kristen is a donor mother who took the loss of her 14-month-old son, Rylen, and created a purpose. In the midst of heartbreak, Kristen and her husband made the decision to donate their son’s organs. This decision gave others a second chance at life.
Rylen’s story didn’t end there. Kristen committed herself to sharing his story and the power of donation. Through continuous outreach, Kristen has helped other families to understand the power of saying yes to organ donation.
Kristen founded the Smilin’ Rylen Foundation, an organization focused on raising awareness about organ donation and supporting families during crises. The annual Smilin’ Rylen Run brings the community together to celebrate life and raise awareness about donation.
Through her dedication and resilience, Kristen has been the embodiment of the spirit of the Hero Award.
