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$2 million gift from Steelers part-owner will establish pediatric transplant network

When Rob Citrone’s father became ill and needed a new kidney, the family got a crash course in the anguish of the organ donation waitlist.

The experience prompted Mr. Citrone, a hedge fund owner and a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his wife, Cindy, to launch a star-studded public awareness campaign promoting organ donation called Play it Forward Pittsburgh.

That campaign now includes at $2 million gift from the Citrones to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC to establish the Starzl Network for Pediatric Transplantation, named for pioneering surgeon Thomas Starzl, who died in March.