Vicky Ng, SPLIT President
TTS Tribune Newsletter

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Started in 1995 as “Studies” of Pediatric Liver Transplantation, a multi-center, observational, longitudinal registry collecting prospective data, the SPLIT mission steadfastly remains to improve the outcomes in children receiving liver transplantation via research, quality improvement, education, training, mentorship and patient advocacy. The SPLIT registry was instrumental for the development of the Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease (or PELD) severity scoring system for children in the United States, and facilitated successful National Institutes of Health (NIDDK) U01 consortium funding between 2004 and 2009. Over the past decade, SPLIT has continued to grow in scope and membership, but remains constant with the unwavering vision to be the voice for children requiring liver transplantation. In 2018, SPLIT incorporated, formally changed its name to “Society” of Pediatric Liver Transplantation (allowing retention of our longstanding SPLIT acronym), acquired tax-exempt status (501c(3)), and became the newest Section of The Transplantation Society.

SPLIT is currently comprised of over 40 pediatric liver transplant centers from the United States and Canada, as well as three sites from Australia, India and Saudi Arabia. The SPLIT Executive Committee (comprised of SPLIT President, Past-President, President-Elect, and Treasurer along with SPLIT data coordinating center and TTS liaison representatives) oversees all SPLIT activities and finances. We have a vibrant list of active SPLIT committees (Advocacy, Research, Registry, Education, Allied Health Professionals, Quality Improvement and Clinical Care, and PFEP (Parents, Families, and Engaged Partners)), with Chairs represented on our SPLIT Council.

Are you interested in becoming part of a vibrant community with a passion for improving outcomes for children requiring liver transplantation? Visit www.tts.org to become a SPLIT-TTS member today!

Benefits of SPLIT membership include:

• Immediately becoming part of a vibrant and established community who share this passion
• Access to participate in SPLIT committees
• Eligibility for SPLIT research and travel grants
• Discounted membership fees for TTS and other TTS sections
• Discounted registration fees to attend SPLIT Annual Meetings

Questions about SPLIT? Please do not hesitate to reach out to:
Vicky Ng - SPLIT President
vicky.ng@sickkids.ca
Beau Kelly - SPLIT President-Elect
beaukellymd@gmail.com
Katie Tait - TTS-SPLIT Liaison
katie.tait@tts.org

Marcelo Cantarovich, TTS President-Elect and Education Committee Co-Chair
SPLIT Mid-Year Council Meeting

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The Studies of Pediatric Liver Transplantation (SPLIT) was started in 1995 and has evolved from a voluntary research registry into a multi-faceted organization focused on research, education, quality improvement, patient advocacy, mentorship, and improving outcomes for children receiving liver transplantation. Work from the SPLIT data registry was modeled to help develop the disease severity scoring system (PELD) for children. SPLIT held NIDDK U01 funding between 2004 and 2009. The organization has continued to grow in scope and membership, but remains constant with the unwavering vision to be the voice for children requiring liver transplantation. In 2018, SPLIT incorporated, changed its name to The Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation (allowing retention of its longstanding SPLIT acronym), acquired tax-exempt status (501c(3)), and became the newest section of The Transplantation Society.

SPLIT continues with its mission to improve the outcomes in children receiving liver transplantation through research, quality improvement, training, mentoring and patient advocacy. SPLIT is currently comprised of over 40 pediatric liver transplant centers from the United States, all pediatric liver transplant programs in Canada, as well as three sites from Australia, India and Saudi Arabia. To achieve the SPLIT mission, the SPLIT Executive Committee (comprised of the SPLIT President, Past-President, President-Elect, Treasurer along with its TTS liaison and data coordinating center representatives) oversees all SPLIT activities and finances, and works with the SPLIT Council (comprised of the Research, QICC, Education, Registry, Allied Health Professionals, and Parents, Families, and Engaged Partners (PFEP) Committee Chairs, plus two Physicians-at-Large members) to ensure the deliverables and goals of the SPLIT committees. The SPLIT Education committee also oversees an annual SPLIT meeting, which has become the “go-to” educational and networking event each year for the pediatric liver transplant academic community. This is a 2-day focused symposium with an agenda targeting state-of-the-art lectures addressing highly relevant and timely issues delivered by experts in the field.

In addition to monthly calls, the SPLIT Council meets face-to-face biannually to review strategies, goals and objectives towards the SPLIT mission. We would like to thank Dr. Marcelo Cantarovich, TTS President-Elect, for participating in our 2019 Mid-Year meeting, given this was the first SPLIT Council meeting since becoming a TTS section. Held on May 30-31, 2019 in Rockville, Maryland, this meeting was a wonderful bidirectional opportunity for SPLIT and TTS to learn firsthand about the two organizations’ missions, visions, strategic goals, and opportunities to engage together towards shared passions and synergies. Dr. M. Cantarovich presented about the history, the structure and the vision, mission and global role of the TTS. SPLIT is looking forward to working together with TTS in the coming years!

Are you interested in becoming part of a vibrant community with a passion for improving outcomes for children requiring liver transplantation? Visit www.tts.org to become a SPLIT-TTS member today!

Benefits of SPLIT membership include:

• Immediately becoming part of a vibrant and established community who share this passion
• Access to participate in SPLIT committees
• Eligibility for SPLIT research and travel grants
• Discounted membership fees for TTS and other TTS sections
• Discounted registration fee to attend the next SPLIT Annual Meeting
  • Where: Houston, Texas (Hilton Americas-Houston Hotel)
  • When: October 23-25, 2019

Questions about SPLIT? Please do not hesitate to reach out to:
Katie Tait - TTS-SPLIT Liaison
katie.tait@tts.org
Vicky Ng - SPLIT President
vicky.ng@sickkids.ca
Beau Kelly - SPLIT President-Elect
beaukellymd@gmail.com

Back row (from left to right): Jeff Mitchell, Simon Horslen, Riccardo Superina, Marcelo Cantarovich, Beau Kelly, Jennifer White, Ravinder Anand, Katie Tait, Sue Feist
Front row (from left to right): Saeed Mohammad, George Mazariegos, Vicky Ng, Evelyn Hsu, Nitika Gupta, Steve Lobritto, Sue Rhee, Dana Mannino

Vicky Ng, SPLIT President
TTS Eblast

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Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year! On behalf of the SPLIT Executive Committee, we are delighted to provide you with some exciting updates about SPLIT in 2019.

After 23 years of being known as "Studies of Pediatric Liver Transplantation” with center-based membership, SPLIT formally incorporated to become the “Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation” at the end of 2018.

In 2019, we are excited to let you know that SPLIT is now an official Section of The Transplantation Society (TTS), an international society committed to the world-wide advancement of organ transplantation. As an official TTS Section, SPLIT will transition to an individual member-based society. We invite you now to become a SPLIT member, and join our vibrant network of experts and stakeholders committed to our goal of optimizing the outcomes for infants, children and teens requiring liver transplantation worldwide.

SPLIT membership benefits include:

• Reduced registration fees to our SPLIT Annual Meeting (annual savings of $100)
• Travel grants to the SPLIT Annual Meeting for Trainees and Advocate members
• Opportunities to join SPLIT Committees and Writing Groups advancing the science, clinical practice, advocacy and quality of pediatric liver transplantation worldwide
• Access to previous SPLIT meeting presentations
• Discount on TTS annual membership ($50 savings)

Please visit our new website, www.tts.org/split and join us in influencing and changing practice towards enhancing both the quantity and quality of life-years restored by life-saving liver transplantation!

A recent analysis led by SPLIT investigators (Drs. Perito, Hsu, Mogul and Mazariegos) showed that waitlist deaths could be significantly decreased, and liver transplants increased, for children and the sickest adults, by prioritizing children for pediatric livers and with broader national sharing of deceased donor livers, using the Liver Simulated Allocation Model (LSAM) and Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) data. This SharePeds LSAM manuscript was just made available on PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30720563, and will appear in the forthcoming issue of Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.

As of 2019 the Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation (SPLIT) will be an Official Section of The Transplantation Society. SPLIT is a community of physicians, surgeons, nurses and other allied health professionals whose mission is to improve the outcomes in children receiving liver transplantation through research, improving care, training and mentoring, and supporting children and families.