TTS Pulse Podcast

Behind the Paper with Richard Formica.

Richard Formica discusses the recent publication in Transplantation journal "The Economic Value of Volunteers Directing and Managing the US Organ Donation and Transplantation System"

View the full paper:

https://journals.lww.com/transplantjournal/fulltext/2025/03000/the_economic_value_of_volunteers_directing_and.30.aspx

About the Journal

The official Journal of The Transplantation Society. Transplantation (https://transplantjournal.com) is published monthly and is a highly cited and influential journal in the field, with more than 25,000 citations per year.

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The Transplantation Society - Learn more about our journla:

https://tts.org/journal/transplantation-journal

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More about Richard Formica

https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/richard-formica

Allan Massie discusses the recent publication "Landscape of US Waitlist Registrants who Received Transplantation Abroad"

Dr. Allan Massie was interviewed during WTC22025 by our Social Media Editor, Macey Levan, about the recent publication in Transplantation.

This study examined the trend of US transplant waitlist candidates receiving transplants abroad from 2010 to 2023. On average, 58.4 transplants occurred annually, peaking at 80 in 2017. Kidney transplants were the most common, accounting for 92.1% of cases. Popular destinations included the Philippines, India, Mexico, China, and Iran. During the COVID-19 pandemic, India and Mexico saw the least decline in transplant numbers. Most recipients were US citizens or residents, but nonresidents and Asian candidates were more likely to travel abroad for transplants. Understanding these patterns is crucial for managing posttransplant care and addressing resource impacts on destination countries.

About Allan Massie: https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/allan-b-massie

Associate Professor, Department of Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Associate Professor, Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Director, Center for Surgical and Transplant Applied Research (C-STAR) Quantitative Core

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About the Journal

The official Journal of The Transplantation Society. Transplantation (https://transplantjournal.com) is published monthly and is a highly cited and influential journal in the field, with more than 25,000 citations per year.

-

The Transplantation Society - Learn more about our journla:

https://tts.org/journal/transplantation-journal

𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗡. 𝗞𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗻 (𝗧𝗧𝗦 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼-𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗳𝗮𝗻 𝗚. 𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝘂𝘀 (𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿-𝗶𝗻-𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳, 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀) 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗝. 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘵 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮’𝘴 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘺 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝘴𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: “𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗖𝘆𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘂𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.”

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲:

https://journals.lww.com/transplantjo...

𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀

1. Discuss the role of immune biomarkers in predicting CMV and other infections in lung transplant recipients.

2. Explore advantages and limitations of absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) as a predictor.

3. Review data from Gardiner et al. evaluating ALC and mitogen values as predictors of CMV in R+ lung transplant recipients.

4. Highlight recent TTS CMV guidelines relevant to this topic.

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𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 & 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲

• 𝗧𝗧𝗦: https://tts.org

• 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀: https://transplantjournal.com

This podcast is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.

-Title: Policy Innovations to Advance Equity in Solid Organ Transplantation

This is part three in a three-part webinar series based on recent Clinical Series publications in The Lancet on Solid Organ Transplantation:

🔗 https://www.thelancet.com/series-do/organ-transplantation

This webinar series is a collaboration between The Lancet, The Transplantation Society (TTS), the American Society of Transplantation (AST), and the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT).

This webinar series is a collaboration between The Lancet, The Transplantation Society (TTS), the American Society of Transplantation (AST), and the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT).

Featuring:

Jennifer Li (Chair), Australia – TTS Education Co-Chair

Peter Reese (Organizer / Speaker), United States

Elmi Muller (Panelist) South Africa

Lisa McElroy (Panelist) United States

Objectives:

- Understand how barriers to transplantation emerge at different steps across the patient journal from referral to evaluation through transplantation and follow-up care

- Describe global variation in access to transplantation, including differences in access to living donor versus deceased donor transplantation

- Describe global variation in access to high quality care after transplantation

- Describe how national policies can improve transplant equity, but must be tailored to the local context

- Identify knowledge gaps in how transplant equity might be achieved in the future

For more information visit the 🔗 Webinar Homepage: https://tts.org/lancet1

About the Series:

Solid organ transplantation offers tremendous benefits for patients with end-stage organ disease. However, key challenges persist: organ shortages, immunosuppression-related toxicities, and inequities in access.

This Lancet Clinical Series explores opportunities to address these issues:

Upcoming Webinars:

Part 1 – July 7, 2025

Scientific Advances in the Assessment, Modification, and Generation of Transplantable Organs for Patients with End-stage Organ Diseases

View recording: https://tts.org/lancet1

Part 2 – July 17, 2025

Advancing Patient Monitoring, Diagnostics, and Treatment Strategies for Transplant Precision Medicine

View recording: https://tts.org/lancet2

-Title: Advancing Patient Monitoring, Diagnostics, and Treatment Strategies for Transplant Precision Medicine

This is part two in a three-part webinar series based on recent Clinical Series publications in The Lancet on Solid Organ Transplantation:

🔗 https://www.thelancet.com/series-do/o...

This webinar series is a collaboration between The Lancet, The Transplantation Society (TTS), the American Society of Transplantation (AST), and the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT).

Featuring:

Jennifer Li (Chair), Australia – TTS Education Co-Chair

Peter Reese (Organizer), United States

Marta Sablik (Panelist), France

Alexandre Loupy (Panelist), France

Overview:

Transplant medicine faces substantial challenges, as patients require lifelong immunosuppression to prevent graft rejection. Immunosuppressive regimens to date, while reasonably effective at preventing acute rejection, cause numerous health complications, compromising quality of life and patient survival. A shift towards personalised immunosuppression is needed to improve allograft health, reduce long-term adverse effects, and optimise post- transplant outcomes. This necessity has driven advancements in post-transplant monitoring and diagnostics. Innovative monitoring biomarkers and novel diagnostic modalities have been developed to advance transplant care, with many showing promise for widespread clinical implementation. With advances in artificial intelligence, algorithms have the potential to integrate multidimensional data on the immune system and allograft health, offering a comprehensive view of transplant status. This Series paper highlights the state of post-transplant immunosuppression, monitoring, and diagnostics, emphasising the transformative role of emerging innovations to personalise both allograft and patient care. Their implications could extend to xenotransplantation, further broadening their potential to redefine transplant medicine.

Learning Objectives:

- Understand the current challenges and limitations associated with lifelong immunosuppression in transplant recipients

- Have an overview of the recent advancements in post-transplant monitoring tools and diagnostic biomarkers, with a focus on their clinical potential for personalizing immunosuppressive regimens

- Outline future research priorities necessary to validate, standardize, and implement innovative diagnostic strategies in routine transplant clinical practice

- Outline the emerging role of artificial intelligence in transplant medicine, including how it may be used to integrate complex immunological and clinical data to enhance graft monitoring and decision-making

For more information visit the 🔗 Webinar Homepage: https://tts.org/lancet1

About the Series:

Solid organ transplantation offers tremendous benefits for patients with end-stage organ disease. However, key challenges persist: organ shortages, immunosuppression-related toxicities, and inequities in access.

This Lancet Clinical Series explores opportunities to address these issues:

Upcoming Webinars:

Part 1 – July 7, 2025

Scientific Advances in the Assessment, Modification, and Generation of Transplantable Organs for Patients with End-stage Organ Diseases

View recording: https://tts.org/lancet1

Part 3 – July 25, 2025

Policy Innovations to Advance Equity in Solid Organ Transplantation

More details and registration: https://tts.org/lancet3

In this podcast we discuss the urgent need to develop new tools for organ assessment, new methods to enhance organ recovery, and new sources of organs suitable for transplant. These efforts will expand access to life-saving transplants.

Join our panel of experts who discuss important topics in Xenotransplantation. This panel discussion is complemented by a series of related articles recently published in Transplantation Journal. (click the titles below to view the papers)

Episode 2: Meeting Report: The Sixth International Sam Strober Workshop on Clinical Immune Tolerance by The Transplantation Society

Stefan Tullius (Editor-in-Chief) discusses the recent publication of the Fourth International Consensus Guidelines on the Management of Cytomegalovirus in Solid Organ Transplantation with Camille Kotton and Atul Humar. This updated international consensus—developed by leading CMV experts with support from The Transplantation Society—reflects major advances in CMV diagnostics, prevention, treatment, and surveillance.

Watch the video at https://tts.org/cmv4

Today's episode focuses on Measles Risk Reduction Strategies for Transplant Patients.

This podcast was originally recorded as a webinar on March 14, 2025.

In this episode, our moderator, Dr. John Baddley, is joined by guest speakers:

Dr. Stephanie Pouch,

Dr. Ricardo La Hoz,

Dr. Camille N. Kotton,

Dr. Lara Danziger-Isakov.

Together, they explore: The clinical features of measles in immunosuppressed patients,

Current global epidemiology, and the latest prevention and treatment strategies.

Multiple measles outbreaks have recently been reported worldwide—

representing a unique and serious threat to transplant recipients.

Stay tuned for this important discussion.