IXA Newsletter - August 2015

Top 10 Articles

In coordination with Xenotransplantation, we are pleased to report the Top 10 Cited Articles published in 2014.

Carl-Gustav Groth Xeno Prize

The 2014 Xeno Prize was awarded to Dr. Guerard Byrne of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester and University College London for his winning paper entitled “Cloning and expression of porcine β1,4 N-acetylgalactosaminyl transferase encoding a new xenoreactive antigen”. To view the abstract or access the content, please click here. Dr. Byrne will be officially recognized during the 2015 Joint IPITA-IXA-CTS Congress in Melbourne, Australia. The IXA and Xenotransplantation’s publisher Wiley would like to take this opportunity to encourage every member to submit your manuscript to Xenotransplantation for a chance to be considered for the 2015 Xeno prize!

Biennial Congress – Melbourne 2015

The next Congress of the International Xenotransplantation Association (IXA), which will be held jointly with the International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association (IPITA) and the Cell Transplant Society (CTS) in Melbourne, Australia, from November 15-19, 2015. The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) provides an amazing location for this event. Set on the banks of the iconic Yarra River, MCEC is just a short stroll to the city center.

The scientific program has been designed with the help of more than 25 experts from 9 countries, and has been developed to promote a truly interdisciplinary exchange of scientific progress and concepts among investigators active in three different, but increasingly related and overlapping, fields. The program will thus provide an excellent forum for both clinical investigators and basic scientists with expertise in cell and islet transplantation and xenotransplantation to meet and discuss innovative strategies for overcoming immunologic, technologic, regulatory and other obstacles.

JOINT PLENARY SESSIONS WILL INCLUDE:

1. Updates on Clinical Trials: Cellular Immunotherapy, Encapsulated Pig Islet Xenotransplantation, and Stem Cell-Based Regenerative Medicine
2. New Horizons: Genome Editing, Tissue Regeneration, and Biomaterial Engineering
3. Controlling Inflammation and Coagulation in Transplantation

The plenary topics have been carefully chosen to include speakers world-renowned in fields that overlap with our own (e.g. tissue regeneration – Nadia Rosenthal; biomaterial engineering – Gordon Wallace), thus exposing delegates to new ideas and technologies. In addition, there will be plenary talks on topics of particular interest to IXA members, including encapsulated porcine islet xenotransplantation (Shinichi Matsumoto), anticoagulant/anti-inflammatory mechanisms (Charles Esmon), and new anti-complement agents (John Lambris).

To register for the meeting, please visit www.melbourne2015.org and use the online system before August 30 to qualify for the early bird registration rate. We look forward to warmly welcoming you to Melbourne and wish you a fruitful scientific Congress and a pleasant stay.

IXA Vanguard Committee

This new committee provides a forum for students and junior faculty in the field to interact with future leaders in xenotransplantation and provide opportunities for professional development. Members of the Committee will be tasked with representing the junior members of IXA and work to increase the awareness of research trends and techniques that can advance the field of xenotransplantation. The Committee has already begun work on young investigator targeted activities for the upcoming Congress including a young investigator organized oral session that will be followed by a social event and opportunity to network with peers. The Committee has also created a group Facebook page (find this group by searching “International Xenotransplantation Association (IXA) Vanguard Committee”) and a Twitter account (“IXA Vanguard Cmttee”).

Reemtsma Lecture

The biennial Reemtsma Lectureship was initiated in 2014 and honors the memory of Dr. Keith Reemtsma. Dr. Reemtsma pioneered clinical xenotransplantation in 1963, transplanting kidneys from chimpanzees and a rhesus macaque to patients with renal failure. His later work focused on xeno islets. A founding member and Honorary Founding President of IXA, he collaborated with the other pioneers in the field, and either trained or encouraged the generations of scientists and surgeons who followed in their footsteps. IXA will endow this lectureship through fundraising from IXA members, and from Dr. Reemtsma’s many friends and colleagues around the world. The lecture honors an eminent scientist, recognizing her or his contribution to the field of xenotransplantation, and will be delivered at IXA’s biennial meeting. The inaugural Reemtsma Lecture will be given by Dr. Mark Hardy at the Joint Congress in Melbourne.

To make a donation to the Reemtsma Lectureship Fund, please click here.

Clinical Trials Guidelines

Kannan et al. examined recent progress in islet xenotransplantation, with a critical eye toward the gaps between the current state of the art and the state required for appropriate clinical investigation. A commentary was written by Cooper et al asking if revisions of the IXA guidelines for clinical islet xenotransplantation are warranted. The IXA recently published a consensus statement on conditions for undertaking clinical trials of xenocorneal transplantation in which Kim et al. reviewed ethical, logistical, scientific, and regulatory issues regarding xenocorneal transplantation. Prior guidelines and other regulatory documents can be found on the IXA website.

Xenotransplantation Journal Update

Xenotransplantation Impact Factor Increase

The 2014 Impact Factor has risen to 2.84, and the journal is now ranked 12/25 (Transplantation); 47/123 (Medicine Research & Experimental), per the 2014 ISI Journal Citation Reports© Ranking.

Kudos

Xenotransplantation helps you get your research noticed! All Xenotransplantation authors can register (for free!) to use Kudos, a service that enables authors to enhance, monitor and measure the visibility and impact of their published articles. Visit Wiley’s Author Services website today to register for Kudos, and for access to a suite of tools and services to help improve your publication experience.

Coming Soon: Xenotransplantation is getting faster! Xenotransplantation has a time to first decision of just 24 days. And, soon all Xenotransplantation articles will be published as Accepted Articles, with ultra rapid online publication of the peer-reviewed, accepted manuscript ahead of editing. Submit your manuscript today so it can be read and cited even sooner!

Please do not hesitate to contact the IXA to provide feedback or any suggestions (sections@tts.org).

Takaaki Kobayashi, IXA President and Peter Cowan, IXA President-Elect
Agnes Azimzadeh, IXA Secretary & Communications Editor