Dear Colleagues,

It is our great honor and privilege to welcome you to the Symposium on “Deceased Organ Donation and Religion” on March 12-14, 2020 in Ankara, Turkey.

Organ transplantation is accepted as a valid and advanced treatment method applied in many chronic organ diseases. However, millions of people die and are buried with healthy organs, which could save the lives of many patients who continue to wait on Transplant lists. Unfortunately, organ shortage is the greatest challenge facing the field of organ transplantation today.

Our aim as the transplant community should be to work towards a system of meeting the organ demand entirely with deceased organ donation. This will make an enormous difference to those patients awaiting transplants in which living organ donors are not an option.

However, cultural and religious beliefs play an important role in organ transplantation activities worldwide. In order to effectively continue to make the best use of the opportunities we have today, it is essential that we discuss the issue from the perspectives of different religions and explore ways to solve the problems caused by this issue.

In the light of these, we have decided to organize a Symposium on “Deceased Organ Donation and Religion” on March 12-14, 2020 in Ankara, Turkey. The Symposium will be held at the Baskent University Campus in Ankara to ensure our young colleagues and students are participated at the highest level.

We are delighted to welcome you to Ankara, Turkey for this Symposium, and we hope you enjoy the scientific sessions and the social events we have planned

Yours sincerely,

Mehmet Haberal, MD, FACS (Hon), FICS (Hon),
FASA (Hon), FIMSA (Hon), Hon FRCS (Glasg)
President, The Transplantation Society
Founder and Founder President, Baskent University
President of the Executive Supreme Board, Baskent University
Chair, Baskent University Division of Transplantation

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REGISTRATION AND ACCOMMODATION FORM

The TTS-ILTS Paired Transplant Centers Program is a collaboration between The Transplantation Society (TTS) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) supporting new liver transplant programs in emerging countries.

VISIT WWW.TTS-ILTS.ORG FOR FULL DETAILS

In order to help young members offset expenses to attend our Congress in Seoul, TTS 2020 will be offering Young Investigator Awards and International Transplantation Science Mentee-Mentor Awards. Award recipients will be selected on scientific merits (abstract submission deadline February 18, 2020).

Young Investigator Awards

To be eligible for the Young Investigator Awards, you need to apply by March 23, 2020, submit an abstract to the Congress, be a trainee (within 2 years of completion of their training and/or fellowship) and be a member of TTS.

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International Transplantation Science Mentee-Mentor Awards

TTS in collaboration with National and International Societies acknowledges the contribution of basic science to the field of transplantation by offering Mentee-Mentor awards.

To be eligible, you need to apply by March 23, 2020, submit an abstract to the Congress, be a graduate student or trainee (within 5 years of receiving PhD, MD), both Mentee and Mentor must attend TTS 2020 and be member of both TTS and confirmed supporting Societies.

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If you are a TTS Member, we have setup an account for you in the system. You can retrieve your login credentials in the TTS Members area of tts.org.

Members can access the online nominating form at www.tts.org/nominations. Since each nominee must have his or her form signed by three supporting members (including him/herself), the online process allows for efficient and rapid circulation.

THE NOMINATION DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 14, 2020.

Please note:

• As successive presidents may not be from the same Region, members from the North America region who would have otherwise been eligible to become President-Elect are not eligible in these elections.
• Only full members who have served a full term on Council and have paid their dues are eligible for the Officer positions (President-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer).
• Only full members who have paid these dues are eligible to be nominated for Council.
• Only full members who have paid their dues may nominate and/or vote.
  

For more information on elections, visit the TTS website and consult the By-Laws in the “About” section.

Nominations are being sought for these positions

Officer Positions:

• President-Elect
• Secretary
• Treasurer

TTS Regions:

• Asia (2)
• Europe (1)
• Latin America (2)
• North America (2)

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NOMINATING FORM

TITLE: IMMUNOLOGY OF VCA
MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2020 3:00PM EST (MONTREAL TIME)

Objectives:

To provide an overview on similarities and differences identified in VCA vs solid organ transplants.

CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP AND LEARN MORE

Dr. Karen Keung, Editorial Fellow, Transplantation

CMV-specific cell-mediated immunity at 3-month prophylaxis withdrawal discriminates D+/R+ kidney transpalnts at risk of late-onset CMV infection regardless the type of induction therapy

Jarque M, Melilli E, Crespo E
Transplantation: 2018, 102: e472-e480

Evaluation of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific cell-mediated immunity (CMI) to identify patients at risk of CMV infection post-transplant has been an area of growing interest. In this prospective cohort of 96 CMV IgG D+/R+ patients who received either rATG(n=46) or anti-IL2RA (n=50) induction therapy, the authors assessed the CMV-specific CMI at the time of anti-viral prophylaxis cessation 3 months post-transplant, to identify patients at risk of subsequent late-onset CMV infection. CMV-specific CMI was measured by an interferon-gamma ELISpot assay against two CMV antigens (IE-1 and pp65). 14 patients (14.6%; rATG n=7, anti-IL2RA n=7) developed CMV infection and demonstrated significantly lower CMV-specific CMI frequencies compared to patients who did not, regardless of induction therapy type. The authors also identified CMI cut-offs by ROC curve analysis against each CMV antigen that  stratified patients into high and low risk groups for subsequent infection. These findings suggest assessment of CMV-specific CMI at 3- months prophylaxis cessation, irrespective of induction therapy type, could assist in risk stratification for late-onset CMV infection.

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Jan. 14 - Human livers from organ donors can now be preserved for a week, researchers have revealed, a dramatic improvement on previous techniques, which could only keep the organs usable for a matter of hours.

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Jan. 14 - With an emphasis of expanding the donor pool, investigators are looking at discarded kidneys to increase the amount of donor kidneys available. New data suggests the transplant community should expand their use of deceased donor acute kidney injury (AKI) kidneys and investigator whether currently discarded AKI kidneys can be effectively used.

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Jan. 10 - Jennifer Gobrecht always knew she would be a mother someday, but her birth experience was one she couldn't have imagined. Gobrecht is the mother of the second baby in the United States to ever have been born from the transplanted uterus of a deceased donor. Gobrecht, 33, successfully gave birth via cesarean section to Benjamin Thomas Gobrecht in November as part of an ongoing trial to study uterine transplantation as a treatment option for women facing infertility.

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Jan. 12 - Solid organ transplant recipients experienced a high burden of infections, more than half of which were due to bacteria, in the first year after transplant, according to an analysis of patients in the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study.

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Jan. 8 - Johns Hopkins researchers report that a type of biodegradable, lab-engineered nanoparticle they fashioned can successfully deliver a “suicide gene” to pediatric brain tumor cells implanted in the brains of mice. The poly(beta-amino ester) nanoparticles, known as PBAEs, were part of a treatment that also used a drug to kill the cells and prolong the test animals’ survival.

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Jan. 13 - Allogenic transplantation of insulin-secreting islet β-cells offers the possibility of treating type 1 diabetes (T1D); however, the stress islets undergo during preparation for transplantation compromises their functional viability and poses a major obstacle to their adoption as a treatment for the majority of patients. A study released in Stem Cells offers information to help overcome this drawback.

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