The COVID-19 pandemic will certainly pose great challenges for all of us for many months to come. In view of the uncertainties regarding travel and assemblies, and given our responsibility for the health and safety of our colleagues and the global transplant community, we were unfortunately obliged to cancel our physical congress in Seoul in September.

Nevertheless, we are excited at the prospect of bringing the 28th International Congress of The Transplantation Society, in September as a virtual, innovative congress that will accommodate all time zones worldwide with a strong scientific program that will of course also include the latest developments and outcomes of COVID-19. For more information on our program, please go to www.tts2020.org.

In 2021, we will continue to focus on regional needs to address the disparities that unfortunately exist in access to and quality of healthcare in different locations around the world. As TTS, we need to be sure that regional meetings are organized on a regular basis – particularly in underserved areas such as Africa or Mid Asia, Latin America and India -- in order to effectively extend our reach and provide maximum benefit to the TTS member base.

Unfortunately, organ shortage is the greatest challenge facing the field of organ transplantation today. 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. Our aim as the transplant community should be to work towards a system of meeting the organ demand entirely with deceased organ donation. As such, deceased organ donation is another important issue that we will continue to encourage and promote in 2020 worldwide.

This will not only result in the reduction of unethical transplantation activities, but will also make an enormous difference to those patients awaiting transplants in which living organ donors are not an option. In addition to brain death, circulatory death is increasingly becoming an issue that requires our attention and action as international leaders in the field.

While we continue to endorse various meetings and congresses, our scientific and educational activities also continue for our members. In addition to the various training and support programs, joint webinar series continue on various topics and can be accessed through the TTS website. By making educational resources available to all our members we offer a platform for discussion and ensure that they are kept up-to-date with current practices.
We are all navigating through uncertainty for ourselves, our loved ones and our community. I hope that we will soon leave behind these challenging times and I hope that you are staying healthy and safe.  

The last couple months have challenged the TTS community in unprecedented ways. In early March, TTS formed a committee that meets at least once per week to discuss how TTS can better serve its membership and the transplant community during these challenging times. This group is committed to making sure the community has access to the most current information around the globe. Chaired by John Fung, its members are Medhat Askar, Frans Claas, Michael Ison, Peter Stock, Stephan Tullius, and Lori West. The committee is currently planning content for TTS2020 and has been instrumental in building and maintaining the COVID-19 Dashboard.

As new challenges arise due to this global pandemic, TTS will continue towards its mission in serving the membership as well as the transplant community around the world.

In response to the global pandemic, The Transplantation Society has created the COVID-19 Dashboard to serve as a resource for transplant professionals to get up to date information, including:

If you are a Transplant Professional and you have questions to ask the committee or, would like to contribute valuable information to the Dashboard - Kindly email covid-19@tts.org.

Click here for COVID-19 Dashboard

The Transplantation Society President, Professor Mehmet Haberal, continues his efforts to engage the transplant community to create a system of meeting the organ demand entirely with deceased organ donation as 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. However, cultural and religious beliefs play an important role in organ transplantation activities worldwide. In light of these, Professor Haberal organized an International Symposium on “Deceased Organ Donation and Religion” on March 12–13, 2020 in Ankara, Turkey.

The Symposium, which was organized and chaired by Prof. Haberal, boasted 19 invited speakers worldwide including: TTS Past Presidents, Prof. Jeremy Chapman and Prof. Philip O’Connell; TTS President-Elect, Prof. Marcelo Cantarovich; TTS Secretary, Prof. John Fung; TTS North America Councilor, Prof. Medhat Askar; President of the Indian Society of Transplantation, Prof. Jai Prakash; and, President of the African Society of Organ Transplantation, Prof. Gamal Saadi. Religious leaders of the major religions in the world, and scientists in their respective fields, were also represented, including Professors Marwan Masri, Mustafa Al-Mousawi, Josep Lloveras, Vivek Kute, Bassam Saeed, Gail Moloney, Claire Williment, Khikmat Anvarov, and Gustavo A. Melgarejo Benitez, in addition to TTS Executive Director, Jean-Pierre Mongeau. The Symposium was held at the Baskent University Campus in Ankara with great success, and 285 participants from 16 countries (Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Russian Federation, Paraguay, Spain, Syria, Turkey, UK, USA, Uzbekistan) attended the Symposium.

The Opening Ceremony drew a large number of participants and started with the welcome speech from Prof. Mehmet Haberal, and continued with the opening remarks of Prof. Gamal Saadi, President of the African Society of Organ Transplantation (ASOT). In his welcome remarks, Prof. Saadi drew attention to the importance of deceased organ donation worldwide. Following Prof. Gamal Saadi, His Excellency Mr. Abzal Saparbekuli, Kazakhstan Ambassador to Turkey, mentioned the important contributions that Prof. Haberal had made to the Republic of Kazakhstan and thanked him for his continued support.
The first day of the Symposium started with the presentations of the invited speakers. This was followed by a panel discussion on Deceased Organ Donation and Religion where perspectives of different religions were discussed, and participants explored ways to solve the problems caused by cultural and religious beliefs. Mr. Halil Kilic from the Supreme Council of Religious Affairs made contributions on the Islamic perspective, and Mr. Isak Alaluf from the Chief Rabbinate Religious Committee made contributions on the Jewish perspective. At the end of the panel discussion, it was clearly declared by the religious speakers that religion is not an obstacle against organ donation.

The scientific program continued on the second day with the lectures of the invited speakers followed by another panel discussion organized and chaired by TTS President-Elect, Prof. Marcelo Cantarovich, and TTS North America Councilor, Prof. Medhat Askar, with special emphasis on deceased organ donation and religion. In addition to the religious leaders, representatives from media and T.V., medical faculty students, transplant patients and scientists in their respective fields participated in the panel discussions at the highest level and discussions were broadcasted live on television.

Prof. Haberal closed the symposium with a final word of thanks to all attendees and everyone involved in the organization. The International Symposium on Deceased Organ Donation and Religion proved to be a great success, with high positive feedback from all who were in attendance realizing that education and public awareness is essential for increasing deceased organ donation worldwide.

The 5th Korea-Myanmar Vitallink Seminar took place in Yangon, Myanmar on January 30-31, 2020. TheSeminar was organized and sponsored by Raphael International, an NGO spearheaded by Professor Curie Ahn. TTS was represented by Professors Jeremy Chapman (TTS Past-President) and Marcelo Cantarovich (TTS President-Elect). The Seminar attracted over 200 participants, including representatives from Cambodia, where transplantation activities are yet to be developed.

Professor Curie Ahn and her colleagues from South Korea have contributed to the development of transplantation activities in Myanmar, Mongolia, Bangladesh and Vietnam. The goal of the seminars is to enhance the knowledge about transplantation, and help with infrastructure and medical and surgical issues in those countries. As an example, with the help of Raphael International, the second deceased liver transplant was performed in Myanmar in 2019.

Dr. Jae Myung Lee (Critical Care specialist from the Korea University of Seoul) gave an excellent presentation about the management of brain death donors. In addition, she visited four hospitals to assess their potential for the detection of brain death donors, and the representatives from TTS were able to join her during her visit of the Neurosurgical Unit of Yangon General Hospital. Here a meeting with Prof. Myat Thu, Director of the Neurosurgical Unit), during which he explained that there are about 1000 potential deceased donors per year.

The local transplant community in Myanmar is very excited about the next steps ahead. The goal is to create a Myanmar Society of Transplantation, expand the facility of the tissue typing laboratory, and develop an algorithm for the allocation of solid organs from deceased donors. Professor Zaw Wei Saw -- Rector of Yangon University UM1, and representative of the Minister of Health of Myanmar -- met with Professors Curie Anh, Khin Maung Htay, Khin Thida Twin, and Tin Tin Mar. Rector, assured that the Ministry of Health will support the organ transplantation activities in Myanmar.

On behalf of The Transplantation Society, we wish to thank Dr. Shane T. Grey for his service as chair of the TTS Transplantation Science Committee for the past 4 years. We appreciate all his efforts in making this committee a productive one and wish Shane the very best in his future endeavors.

We wish to congratulate the new chair of the TSC, Dr. Fadi Issa, and the newly nominated co-chair, Prof. Xunrong Luo.

• Regular formal interactions: JIPMER, India faculties were in regular contacts with Dr. Vijayanand and Dr. Attia in Leeds. A formal Memorandum of Understanding between two centres is in process.
• Involvement in deceased donor liver transplant: Dr. Vijayanand visited JIPMER on February 19, 2020 and scrubbed in a deceased donor liver transplant, providing a valuable exchange of surgical skills. The Liver was retrieved from a donor hospital located 16km away. The complexity of this case was that the for the first time we have taken a liver form a donor with high DRI (Donor Risk Index) with valuable input from Dr. Vijayanand. The other complexity was that the recipient BMI was around 36. The transplant was uneventful and the recipient was discharged on March 2, 2020.
• Ward Rounds by Leeds faculty: Dr. Vijayanand and Dr. Attia visited the liver transplant ICU, pre-operative ward, general wards and other facilities in JIPMER on February 22, 2020. They participated in clinical discussions and clinical rounds.
• Inspection of newly built transplantation facilities: On February 23, 2020, Dr, Vijayanand and Dr. Attia visited the newly built transplantation facilities in JIPMER which will be commissioned within a year. These include dedicated operation rooms for living donor transplantation, ICUs, step down care, transplant outpatient clinics, etc.
• Academic programme: JIPMER in collaboration with Leeds conducted a cadaveric workshop on February 22-23, 2020 in the Anatomy Department in JIPMER academic centre. Dr. Vijayanand and Dr. Attia participated as faculty. Thirteen (13) surgeons from JIPEMR transplant team and also from other emerging centres in India have participated in the hands on training programme. Organ retrieval, benching, implantation and liver resections were demonstrated by faculty and performed by young surgeons. This model of cadaveric training will be repeated yearly.

• Research: The department in JIPMER has obtained a research grant of INR 25 lakhs (31,400 Euro) from the department of science and technology, Government of India for a research project titled “Effect of Probiotics Supplementation on Nutritional Status, Intestinal Permeability and Liver Disease Severity in Cirrhotic Patients Waiting for Liver Transplantation – A Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo-controlled Trial”. The patient recruitment will be commenced soon. Another research project titled “Effect of Immunonutrition Therapy on Health Status Among Patients Waiting for Liver Transplantation” has been commenced and patients are already being recruited. This project carries a grant of INR 7.5 lakhs (9000 Euro). Two research projects in liver cancer and tumour markers are on-going. JIPMER team has developed an image processing algorithm in imaging the liver and tumours and validity studies are on-going. Soon Leeds team will be collaborating in the image processing works of JIPMER.
• Visit by JIPMER team to Leeds: Dr. Biju Pottakkat, Head of Liver transplant team will be visiting Leeds and staying there from March 22-30, 2020. This visit will further strengthen the collaboration and helps JIPMER team to understand the clinical work flow and protocols in first hand. Dr. Kannane Tirou, adjunct hepatologist with the JIPMER team will also be present at Leeds during this period.
• Upcoming Institute of Organ Transplantation: JIPMER and Leeds team already have a preliminary discussion about the upcoming “Institute of Organ Transplantation”, JIPMER, Pondicherry, a new facility with 400 beds, first of its kind In India. Leeds team will help JIPMER in terms of inputs in concepts and design for the upcoming centre. JIPMER has already given work tenders for selecting the architectural consultancy firm.

The JIPMER-Leeds pair will be applying in 2021 to move up to the next level in the program. Each level has a duration of 2 years. Funding increases as the pair progresses in the program.

Hospital Mexico

Maria Amalia Matamoros – Transplant Surgery
Eduardo Alfaro Alcocer – Pathology
Luis Bolivar Montero – Critical care
Members of the Transplant Surgery, Gastroenterology, Anesthesia and Pharmacy Departments

UCSF

Shareef Syed – Transplant Surgery
Garrett Roll – Transplant Surgery
Nancy Ascher – Transplant Surgery
Members of the Transplant Surgery, Hepatology, Liver Transplant Anesthesia, Pharmacy, Nursing, Social Work and TransplantCcoordinators Departments

Monthly case conferences were held between the two sites. UCSF conference attendance has been excellent and and some recorded material is available on the USCF paired transplant website.

Topics for the case conferences included: post-operative recurrent autoimmune hepatitis and acute cellular rejection, prioritizing patients with Budd Chiari Syndrome, liver transplant in patients with large splenic artery aneurysm, hepatic artery thrombosis in pediatric liver transplant, primary non-function after liver transplant requiring re-transplant.

Case forms were completed prior to the conferences to aid communication. After the conference, recommendations were given to help with ongoing management. The bidirectional sharing of information was helpful to both centers. Furthermore, these conferences helped establish a rapport between the two centers prior to the visit. Examples of the completed case forms can be found on the website https://pairedtransplantprogram.ucsf.edu.

In addition, two structed presentations were delivered. Hospital Mexico delivered a presentation on the current status of management of Wilsons Disease in Costa Rica. They have an established work group studying this disease. We are planning a collaborative study with them to further understand how to help this vulnerable population, many of which present with fulminant hepatic failure. UCSF department of anesthesia presented on current Liver transplant Anesthesia practices. The Costa Rican Anesthesia group found this presentation to be very helpful.

The other major portion of this year’s collaboration was the Costa Rica visit. Drs Matamoros, Montero and Alfaro spent one week in San Francisco
Dr. Matamoros wanted to take a multidisciplinary approach, to help areas at her center which required some improvement. A tailored schedule was created for each visitor to increase exposure and relevance to each individual.

Dr. Matamoros spent the week with the Liver transplant surgery team, observing multidisciplinary rounds, pre-operative evaluation and post-transplant clinic. She was also able to participate in cadaveric liver transplant operations. She met with key representatives in the division of liver anesthesia (Kate Kronish Chief of Liver Anesthesia), hepatology (Bilal Hameed Program Director of hepatology fellowship), Donor Network West (Nikole Neidlinger – CMO of DNW), transplant nursing (Done Ino Head of Nursing), and liver transplant social work, and discussed differences in care and created contacts for the future.
A day was spent at the local organ procurement organization – Donor Network West. Over the course of the day, all three visitors were able to learn about an alternate organ procurement organization practice. In addition, they learned about an outreach project in the Philippines which could potentially be replicated in future years.

Dr. Alfaro spent the entire week in the department of pathology working with the liver transplant pathology group. Though he has extensive experience in GI pathology, there is a shortage of volume of liver transplant pathology in costa Rica. The reasons for this is multifactorial. However, moving forward Dr. Laszik is currently setting up a collaboration between Costa Rica and UCSF. A digital reader has been identified in a local hospital, so that pathologic slides can be shared. We will be able to subsequently co-read all liver pathology slides to increase accuracy of reads and subsequent clinical management. The contract is in the final stages of being signed in Costa Rica before this initiative is made active.

Dr. Montero spent the majority of his time with the Hepatologists and intensive care staff. He was able to learn about ICU protocols for high MELD and post liver transplant patients. He also gained from the DNW visit, as he hopes to lead the charge with donor ICU care at their hospital.

On behalf of Women in Transplantation, we hope you are all as well as can be and are staying safe during these unprecedented times. COVID-19 has changed many things, including the way we are practising medicine and how we care for our transplant patients, and will continue to impact all of us for the foreseeable future.

WIT is organized around two pillars. Pillar 1, led by Dr. Christine Falk (Hannover), has the goal of supporting and promoting women transplant professionals around the world. In collaboration with TTS, we are pleased to announce that the WIT Speaker’s Bureau is now available at https://wit-sb.tts.org/webapp. The goal of this database is to serve as a resource to meeting planning committees or others seeking the names of women to serve as speakers and/or moderators at conferences, panels or symposia. The success of this effort will be told by the number of individuals added, so please reach out to women colleagues to sign up.

The Women in Transplantation Steering Committee has created two special awards to recognize the contributions of women in transplantation. The Woman Leader in Transplantation Award recognizes a woman who has helped further the field of transplantation through research, policies, leadership, initiatives or other regarded contributions. The Unsung Hero Award will be presented to one woman who has had an extraordinary impact in transplantation through community service, volunteering, mentorship or other community based activity. Both Awards will be presented during the President’s Plenary at the TTS International Congress.

Pillar 2, led by Dr. Bethany Foster (Montreal), focuses on promoting research on the influence of sex and gender in transplantation, and advocating for gender equity in donation and transplantation. The recent cover feature on the September issue of Transplantation continues to be frequently downloaded and cited (https://journals.lww.com). We also appreciate the contributions of Pillar 2 members for program suggestions. Pillar 2 is also considering a donor project to engage and educate living donation across the globe.

Networking events have been a mainstay for our group, allowing opportunity for education about careers and contributions as well as for important networking and socializing. Our speakers are carefully vetted for their knowledge, expertise and experience not only in transplantation, but in academic and professional education, diversity, and mentorship. With COVID-19 affecting in person meetings, WIT has had to adjust and cancel events; however, it is allowing us to explore new platforms for interacting so please stay tuned for announcements about our coming events!

On June 4, WIT collaborated with the American Society of Transplantation Women’s Health Community of Practice to hold a virtual networking event. The guest speaker, Dr. Reshma Jagsi from the University of Michigan, gave valueable insights with her substantial expertise in issues related to gender equity in academic medicine, and discussed the critical role of our memberships in supporting careers, research, and leadership for female transplant professionals..

While we are underway planning 2021 activities, we welcome your suggestions and comments and would love to partner with more societies. Please feel free to email us (roslyn.mannon@unmc.edu, ljwest@ualberta.ca and katie.tait@tts.org) if you have suggestions for projects, locations and want to help organize. We thank our loyal industry supporters who help us to continue to spread the WIT message of globally. We are always actively seeking additional collaboration, and we ask our members to provide feedback and other suggestions for new meetings as well as other activities.

Finally, if you are interested in becoming a member of Women in Transplantation, supporting us, being put onto our mailing list, attending a WIT event, or simply hearing more about who we are and what we do, please contact Katie Tait, our representative at TTS katie.tait@tts.org or visit www.tts-wit.org WIT membership is not limited to TTS members nor to women, and trainees are especially welcome.

All eyes were on Dubai as host to the 15th ISODP Congress last November as the first gathering in the Middle East for this essential congress on deceased donation. Advancing organ donation is more relevant now than at any time and ISODP was pleased to showcase international collaboration in this work in the United Arab Emirates.

The Congress was supported through partnership with the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation, Mohammed Al Ghonaim, and the Emirates Medical Association Nephrology Society led by Mona Al-Rukhaimi. ISODP was welcomed and endorsed by the Abu Dhabi Health Authority which is actively engaged in establishing and advancing donation in the United Arab Emirates.

More than 625 attendees from 47 countries participated in the Congress in a forum filled with groundbreaking research, innovative scientific advancements and engaging and robust dialogue and debate. A broadly diverse international faculty of over 60 individuals from 18 countries brought professional experience and expertise from all corners of the world and the content was further enriched with over 240 abstract submissions.

The scientific programs kicked off with a premier presentation on the recently completed World Brain Death Project, findings and recommendations for global action. Presentation topics covered organ utilization, developments in organ preservation and perfusion, best practices in donor identification, VCA donation and DCD donation. Particular focus on social, religious and multicultural barriers to donation were addressed from perspectives across the globe.

Plenary and workshop sessions also highlighted the emerging focus on research in deceased donation. A consensus developed that ISODP is well prepared to lead these initiatives with a call for additional focus and pursuit of funding being a priority in the coming years.

Faissal Shaheen was announced as the new President of ISODP taking over from outgoing President Susan Gunderson. ISODP also announced the election of Stephen Beed as President-Elect, the first critical care physician to lead the Society. New Council members include Anthony Clarkson, Tina Coco, Rodrigo Lopez-Falcony and Maria Paula Gomez. Outgoing Council members are immediate Past-President Marti Manyalich and council members Jongwan Ha, Paul Robertson, and Eduardo Rocha.

The Council looks forward to the active participation and input from all the new ISODP members who joined in association with the Congress. Plans are already underway for the 16th ISODP Congress to be held in Las Vegas, USA, November 4-6, 2021.

After a year of planning, the 12th International Transplant Infectious Diseases Conference was held on November 13, 2019 in Dubai, UAE, immediately before the ISODP 2019 meeting. This meeting focused on the challenge of donor-transmitted diseases to provide insight to the donation-focused audience with an eye to identifying unique yet safe ways to expand the donor pool. Beyond discussing the epidemiology and prevention of traditional donor-derived diseases, there were two presentations discussing a global perspective of using HCV NAT positive donors with generally excellent outcomes. The meeting also allowed global experts to discuss common infectious problems, including CMV, BK and EBV-associated PTLD. Additionally, regional experts presented on novel approaches to preventing TB in endemic regions, Brucella pneumonia in a lung transplant recipient and the infectious challenges of individuals who participate in transplant tourism. As the first TID meeting in the Middle East, it allowed new collaborations to develop and the opportunity to reconnect with old friends.

The meeting also marked the transition of leadership for the TID section. Michael Ison was announced as the new President of the TID section where he will be supported by Clarisse Machado, Past-President, Ban Hock Tan, President-Elect, and John Baddley, Secretary-Treasurer. TID also welcomed Jose Maria Aguado, Wanessa Trindade Clemente, Maricar Malinis, and Francisco Marty to the council who will join Silvia Vidal Campos as the sole continuing member. This leadership represents the global footprint of the Section and the specialty (experts representing Brazil, Spain, Singapore and the United States).

Over the next 2 years, President Michael Ison hopes to engage a larger group of experts in the society so that new members are featured in leadership roles, as speakers at upcoming meetings, and as active contributors to the Section. The council will be working to strengthen the ties between the Section and its official Journal, Transplant Infectious Diseases, in addition to building a range of speaking opportunities for members at TID co-branded sessions at regional and stand-alone meetings.

In 2021, plans to hold a Global Summit on Transplant Infectious Diseases on what is known about TID, identify and prioritize areas where research is needed, and consider what the future of the field will look like are in the works. Until then, there are 3 exciting meetings that TID is actively planning to participate in: the ISHAM-Asia meeting, which will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, rescheduled to August 6-8, 2020, focused on fungal infections in SOT (http://www.ishamasia.com/program-at-a-glance); the 21st ICHS Symposium, being held in Melbourne, Australia, rescheduled to January 31- February 2, 2021, where TID will have a co-badged session on challenging viral infections in SOT (https://ichs2020.com); and TID sessions at the 28th International Virtual Congress of The Transplantation Society, currently scheduled for September 13-16, 2020. The meeting dates and programs mentioned above may change due to the present COVID-19 pandemic currently affecting all worldwide meetings.

Lastly, we will be coming up with exciting ways to engage and include our members. If you have ideas, please share them with us (mgison@northwestern.edu) so we can work together it transforming the ideas into action!

Why have journals started using visual abstracts?

Time-poor professionals are bombarded with massive amounts of information - some of it is basically rubbish as we all know, which is why we rely upon peer review to work out what is solid and what is not. Even by keeping an eye on the carefully peer reviewed journals TTS produces - Transplantation and Transplantation Direct and a handful of other similar journals, will still leave us with information overload. So we are trying to make it easier for you to see if an article carries detailed information you need to know. This is where the visual abstract gives you - at a glance - the essentials of a paper. What is the hypothesis? Is It randomised? How many patients? What did they find?

We hope it helps you get to the essence of what you need to know as quickly as possible.

If you submit a paper to Transplanation, do you need to produce a visual abstract?

We would always be happy to receive them on initial submission, but if your paper gets through the first review you will be asked to produce one if we seek a revision. We aren’t using visual abstracts for letters or commentaries so you won’t need to worry with these article types.

Can you help me produce a visual abstract?

Yes, we can help with access to software and more importantly people - we have ambassadors of the journal we can refer you to who are skilled at the visual abstract format. These details will be sent to you when we ask
or a revision.