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30th International Congress of The Transplantation Society (TTS 2024) | Istanbul, Turkey | September 22-25, 2024

TTS 2024 Newsletter # 1 - March 7, 2024

Join us in Istanbul as we break new ground and pioneer innovations that will redefine the landscape of transplantation for years to come.

Calling all Transplantation Enthusiasts and Medical Innovators

From September 22 to 25, 2024 - Get ready to embark on a transformative journey at TTS 2024, where the ancient city of Istanbul, Turkey, will set the stage for groundbreaking discussions and advancements in the field of transplantation.

Medical professionals, researchers, and experts from around the globe will converge in this vibrant metropolis to explore the latest developments, share cutting-edge research, and collaboratively "Shape the future of transplantation". TTS 2024 promises an unparalleled opportunity to connect, learn, and contribute to the evolution of transplant medicine.

Deep Dive into our New Program Format

The meeting is being held in person with a virtual streaming option for those unable to travel

The congress will pivot around three central themes: Inform, Transform, and Sustain, placing emphasis on these overarching concepts rather than delving into specific topics. This strategic focus encourages a holistic approach to transplantation, creating a dynamic platform for the exploration of interconnected aspects within the field. By adopting this comprehensive perspective, participants will gain a nuanced understanding of the subject matter. Our aspiration is that this innovative approach will spark the cross-pollination of ideas, fostering a fertile ground for interdisciplinary collaboration. Recognizing the paramount importance of such collaboration, we believe it is pivotal in propelling the advancement of transplantation research and practice to new heights.
  • Inform - encompassing updates on research, clinical practices, and technological advancements.
  • Transform - focus on innovative techniques, new treatment modalities, and transformative approaches to transplantation.
  • Sustain - emphasizing long-term outcomes, ethical considerations, sustainability, and global accessibility of transplantation services.
Plenary Speakers

Monday, September 23
09:30-10:30
Plenary Session 1

David A. D’Alessandro, United States

Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Innovations to improve and transform patient-important outcomes in cardiac transplantation

Zofeen T. Ebrahim, Pakistan

Independent freelance journalist based in Karachi
Through the Lens: A Journalist's perspective and experience in raising awareness on organ donation and transplantation

Tuesday, September 24
09:30-10:30
Plenary Session 2

Henry Marsh, United Kingdom

Neurosurgeon and pioneer of awake craniotomy techniques
Co-founder of the charity Hospice Ukraine
Risk and the Surgeon

Wednesday, September 25
10:40-12:10
President’s Plenary

Ruth Sapir-Pichhadze, Canada

McGill University, Division of experimental medicine
Embracing Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Principles to Improve Access and Outcomes of Solid Organ Transplantation

Wednesday, September 25
17:00-18:00
Closing Plenary

Michelle A. Josephson, United States

University of Chicago, Medical Director, Kidney Transplant
Pregnancy in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients – current recommendations and controversies
Thematic Session Speakers

Mon Sep 23

15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Genetics in precision medicine
Genetics for precision medicine in transplantation
Shane T Grey, Australia
Biopsy transcriptomics for diagnosis and research
Jasper Callemeyn, Belgium
Identifying operational tolerance
Sophie Brouard, France
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Promises of big data and AI - facts or fiction?
Machine learning model for outcome prediction
Nancy Kwan Man, Hong Kong
Developing transplant registries in LMIC and MIC
Adisorn Lumpaopong, Thailand
Application of AI in transplant pathology
Weijia Zhang, United States
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Uterus-transplantation: Where are we now
10 years after the first successful uterus transplant: How will the teenage years look?
Mats Brannstrom, Sweden
Ethical guardrails in uterus transplantation
Anji Wall, United States
Uterus-specific aspects of alloimmunity and immunosuppression
Paige Porrett, United States
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Clinical trials design and end-points in transplantation
Innovative trial design in transplantation
Andrea Viecelli, Australia
Trials in immunosuppression/Long term in kidney transplantation
Roslyn B. Mannon, United States
The Parsons Model - ethical implications of research involving those determined dead by neurological criteria
Jayme Locke, United States
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Organ utilization - do we need to challenge each other to do better?
Reducing the risk of donor transmitted disease
Beatriz Dominguez-Gil, Spain
The promise of equity in a deceased donor allocation system
Chris Callaghan, United Kingdom
Strategies to improve non-utilisation rates of deceased donors
Sumit Mohan, United States
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Life participation and living well after transplantation
Prehabilitation into transplant and beyond
Marieke Vandecruys, Belgium
Work, life, and sex after transplantation
Louise Lerminiaux, Costa Rica
Living well after transplantation
Bill Wang, Hong Kong
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Pancreas and islet
Deciphering the immunological enigma of allo-beta cell transplantation: Addressing unresolved questions and embracing the frontiers of knowledge
Lorenzo Piemonti, Italy
Beta cell replacement (whole pancreas, islet and cell transplantation) within the treatment landscape of type 1 diabetes
Braulio Alejandro Marfil-Garza, Mexico

Tue Sep 24

15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Advances in antibody assessment
ABO antibodies - future perspectives
Lori J. West, Canada
Advances in AB detection: From Luminex to Eplets and more
Cynthia Kramer, Netherlands
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Equity and access to transplantation
Risks to equity in organ allocation introduced by AI
Mamatha Bhat, Canada
Sex and gender disparities in transplantation access
Bethany Foster, Canada
Disparity in access to solid organ transplantation
Lungiswa Mtingi-Nkonzombi, South Africa
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Reproductive care - General
Reproductive planning - why & how
Shilpanjali Jesudason, Australia
Impact of pregnancy on graft function in kidney Tx
Marleen van Buren, Netherlands
Gestational outcomes for transplant recipients: A focus on fetal health
Margriet FC de Jong, Netherlands
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Cellular therapies
Adoptive t-cell therapy for infections
Patrizia Comoli, Italy
Dendritic cells - insights from clinical trials
Angus W Thomson, United States
CAR-Treg optimization
Mohsen Khosravi-Maharlooei, United States
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Organ perfusion and preservation
Novel delivery of cellular therapy to reduce ischemia reperfusion injury in kidney transplantation
Emily R. Thompson, United Kingdom
Ex-situ machine perfusion (heart, liver, kidney) (standard, oxygenated, hypothermic, normothermic)
Gabriel Oniscu, Sweden
Cryopreservation
Erik Finger, United States
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Dealing with post-transplant complications
Managing post-transplant metabolic disease
Wai Lim, Australia
De novo malignancy post-transplant
Naoka Murakami, United States
What's new in vaccines?
Andrew Karaba, United States
15:40 - 16:40 Thematic Session: Kidney transplant surgery
The best way to procure live donor kidneys: Robotic vs. laparoscopic donor nephrectomy
Chandra Bhati, United States
Robotic renal transplantation: State of the art
Sangil Min, Korea
Robotic renal transplantation: A niche approach for selected patients or the future surgical approach for all?
Timucin Taner, United States

Wed Sep 25

15:25 - 16:25 Thematic Session: Surfing the big data wave
Patient centred outcomes measures
Nicole J Scholes-Robertson, Australia
Genomics strategies to redefine histocompatibility and risk stratification
Sophie Limou, France
Is AI better than human in predicting post-transplant outcomes?
Carmen Lefaucheur, France
15:25 - 16:25 Thematic Session: Regenerative medicine
Regenerative medicine in cardiology
James Chong, Australia
Overcoming senescence to improve transplant outcome
Anette Melk, Germany
15:25 - 16:25 Thematic Session: Patient-centered care
Ready-Steady-Go/A blueprint for health care transition in Europe?
Arvind Nagra, United Kingdom
The therapy in wellness, movement and community
Liz Schick, United Kingdom
15:25 - 16:25 Thematic Session: Normothermic regional perfusion (A-NRP and TA-NRP)
The surgical approach - the Spanish perspective
Alicia Pérez, Spain
Implications of NRP and especially TA-NRP for death determination
Dale Gardiner, United Kingdom
The surgical approach - the US perspective
Anji Wall, United States
15:25 - 16:25 Thematic Session: Infection complications in transplantation
Recurrent UTI in solid organ transplant recipient
Deepali Kumar, Canada
COVID-19 infections and impact on transplant outcomes in the Middle-East
Sibel G. Gocay Bek, Turkey
Climate change and Infection - how it affects transplantation
Ilan Schwartz, United States
15:25 - 16:25 Thematic Session: Minimally invasive recipient surgery: The future is here (Liver)
Which is better for graft extraction/insertion? Upper midline incision vs, Pfannenstiel incision
Mohamed Rela, India
Which is better for graft explant and/or graft implantation? Laparoscopic vs. Robot Assisted
Kwang-Woong Lee, Korea
How far can we expand the indication of Robot-assisted LDLT?
Dieter C. Broering, Saudi Arabia
15:25 - 16:25 Thematic Session: Xenotransplantation’s regulatory road to the clinic
History of Xenotransplantation and moving to clinical practice
Wayne Hawthorne, Australia
WHO leadership in developing global strategies for xenotransplantation
Efstratios (Stratos) Chatzixiros, Switzerland
Moving forward to ensure continuing registration of clinical Xenotransplantation
Leo Hans Buhler, Switzerland
Educational Workshop Speakers

Mon Sep 23

10:40 - 12:15 Educational Workshop: Registries, databases and repositories for developing artificial intelligence in transplant care
SRTR (Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients)
Allan B. Massie, United States
CORR (Canadian Organ Replacement Register)
Sang Joseph Kim, Canada
CTS (Collaborative Transplant Study)
Klemens Budde, Germany
ANZDATA (Australia & New Zealand Dialysis & Tx Registry)
Georgina Laura Irish, Australia
ASTREG (Asian Organ and Transplantation Registry)
Curie Ahn, Korea
13:40 - 15:10 Educational Workshop: Transplanting the Highly Sensitised patient
Role of more sensitive HLA matching: Eplet mismatching in HSP
Rainer Oberbauer, Austria
Defining highly sensitisation: defining immunological risk
Oriol Bestard, Spain
Case Discussion 2
Trijntje Rennie, United Kingdom
Delisting strategies to transplant HSP
Annette M. Jackson, United States
New pharmacological agents to treat AMR in HSP
Enver Akalin, United States
13:40 - 15:10 Educational Workshop: Teaching the transplant teachers
How to set up a train the trainer program
Shilpanjali Jesudason, Australia
Curriculum design for international courses
Chloe Ballesté Delpierre, Spain
Panelist
Bill Wang, Hong Kong
Who, or what, is a transplant educator?
Ala Ali, Iraq
Panelist
Pisana Ferrari, Italy
17:00 - 18:30 Educational Workshop: The Big Idea - Using data to drive transformational change
Lessons from Latin America
Gustavo Ferreira, Brazil
Access to transplantation - Global survey
Marcelo Cantarovich, Canada
Outcomes of children with kidney failure - Is transplantation an option?
Gloria Ashuntantang, Cameroon
Knowledge to action in India
Vivek Kute, India

Tue Sep 24

08:00 - 09:15 Educational Workshop: Enhancing outcomes: BK and CMV guidelines after solid organ transplantation
Empowering transplant teams: CMV guidelines for optimal patient care
Atul Humar, Canada
10:40 - 12:10 Educational Workshop: TTS-ISN workshop on accessibility & sustainability of kidney transplant care
Kidney care and ethical framework in Africa (related to Tx)
Yewondwossen Tadesse Mengistu, Ethiopia
Global issues relating to kidney disease and access to Tx
Vivekanand Jha, India
Use of expanded criteria donors (high risk donors) from a global perspective
Deidre Sawinski, United States
10:40 - 12:10 Educational Workshop: What's new in living donor liver transplantation
Surgical tips in laparoscopic donor hepatectomy
Qiang Xia, People's Republic of China
Surgical tips in robot-assisted donor hepatectomy
S. Sudhindran, India
Perioperative imaging assessment of liver function, anatomy & detection of complication in living donor LT
Jeong Hee Yoon, Korea
How to overcome graft size matching issue in pediatric liver transplantation
Nam-Joon Yi, Korea
13:30 - 15:30 Educational Workshop: Machine Learning - Technical
Multi-omics integration in transplantation
Jean Yang, Australia
Machine learning - A primer
Valentin Goutaudier, France
Understanding causal inferences in transplantation
Armando Teixeira-Pinto, Australia
Machine learning to predict transplant outcomes: Helpful or hype?
Dorry Segev, United States
15:40 - 16:40 Educational Workshop: Transition of solid organ recipients into adult medicine - A success story?
Patient perspective (after transition)
Karsten Vanden Wyngaert, Belgium
Panel discussant
Carl Grabitz, Germany
Panel discussant
Arvind Nagra, United Kingdom
16:50 - 18:30 Educational Workshop: Truth and lies in living donation
The leaky sieve of organ trafficking – how protective measures may be circumvented
Benita Padilla, Philippines
Introduction to the session
Rümeyza Kazancıoğlu, Turkey
Alibis for unwilling donors – why and how these may be necessary
Carrie Thiessen, United States
Misattributed parentage or trafficking in living donation? – to disclose or not to disclose
Ercan Avci, United States

Wed Sep 25

13:40 - 15:10 Educational Workshop: 'Asking difficult questions during difficult times’ - Complex choices and practical challenges of consent
Introducing the option of donation for research – keeping it simple
David Thomson, South Africa
Establishing a research biobank in the context of donation for transplantation - managing information overload
Claire Gordon, Australia
Consent for deceased donor transplantation – ensuring validity
Farrah Raza, United Kingdom
Panel discussant
Pisana Ferrari, Italy
Panel discussant
Karen Rockell, United Kingdom
15:25 - 16:25 Educational Workshop: What is cultural safety and how can it improve donation and transplantation care?
Importance of culturally safe care in donation and transplantation for First Nations peoples
Kelli J. Owen, Australia
Co-presenting with Kelli J. Owen
Samantha Bateman, Australia
How to improve strengths based approaches to research in transplantation involving First Nations peoples?
Caroline Tait, Canada

Abstract Deadline is 10 Days Away!

Submitting an abstract to the TTS 2024 Congress offers a platform to showcase groundbreaking research, connect with global experts, and contribute to advancements in transplantation medicine, fostering collaboration and influencing the field's future direction.
Submission deadline: March 18, 2024.

Awards - Take advantage of the 50+ Awards

TTS Scientific Congress Awards

The TTS Scientific Congress awards are designed to help offset expenses incurred to attend the TTS Congress and are awarded based on the scientific merit of applicants.
To Be Eligible for A Scientific Award, An Individual Must:
  • Submit at least one abstract as a presenting author.
  • Apply prior to the deadline:  April 26, 2024
  • Be either:
    • A trainee/fellow/PhD student. As such, must be within two (2) years of completion of their training and/or fellowship.
    • Allied Health Professional (nurses, psychologist, pharmacist, nutritionist, ect)
    • Resident of emerging economy according to TTS list
  • Be a member of TTS. If an applicant is not a member of The Transplantation Society, a membership application must be completed on the TTS website by the application deadline in order for the award application to be reviewed and considered.
  • For trainee/fellow/ PhD student: A supporting letter must be submitted as a part of the application. This letter must be signed by the applicant's Training Program Director to verify the applicant’s status. Authors will not be considered for an award if the required letter is not sent. The grant applicant MUST be the presenting author. No exceptions will be made.
  • For Allied Health Professional: A supporting letter or copy of the practice license must be submitted as a part of the application. This letter must be signed by the applicant's Director to verify the applicant’s status.
  • Attend the award ceremony at the Congress to receive the award (schedule to be confirmed).
Process For Awarding the Grant:
  • Awardees will be selected from the pool of eligible applicants based upon the abstract's degree of excellence (top score), as determined by the Scientific Program Committee.
  • Every effort will be made by TTS to award at least one scientific award to an applicant from each of the six TTS NEW geographic regions. The geographic regions are North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia (Eastern, Southeast and West/Central (middle-east)), Africa and Oceania.
  • The award will be based on the geographical area of the applicant in relation to the location of the meeting, up to a maximum of $1,000 USD per awardee.
How To Apply:
After submitting your abstract, simply click the "Scientific Award" button from the main dashboard of the program management system.

2024 International Basic and Translational Science Mentee-Mentor Awards

The Transplantation Society celebrates the contributions of basic science to the field of transplantation with the International Basic and Translational Science Mentee-Mentor Awards to recognize the efforts of scientists who have advanced our understanding of transplantation science and fostered the development of the young investigators who will be the future leaders in our field.

TTS-ISOT La Renon International Basic and clinical sciences Mentee-Mentor Awards

Attending the Congress

Registration Now Open!

Fees for the meeting are separated into in-person or virtual streaming. We offer greatly reduced fees for trainees, fellows and AHPs. In addition, for the 1st time we are offering a 50% discount on main registration for delegates from lower to middle income countries.

Hotel Reservation Now Open!

We have carefully curated a preliminary block of rooms at eight hotels in close proximity to the Istanbul Congress Center with different price points for all budgets. We will add additional hotels as pricing becomes available. We anticipate all hotels will be within walking distance of (<1 km)

Official Airline

Turkish Airlines is the official airline for TTS 2024. Special discounts are offered for all delegates travelling via international flights arriving in Istanbul.

Discover the ICC

Discover Istanbul

Discover Turkey

Congress - By the Numbers

Promote TTS 2024!

On Social Media

Become an Ambassador by Promoting the Meeting! When promoting on social media please use the following:

Hashtag: #TTS2024
Official Tags:
@ttsorg (on X - https://twitter.com/ttsorg)
@thetransplantationsociety on Instagram 
@tts on LinkedIn

Our Sponsors

A special thanks to our supporters who in supporting the congress help in the advancement of transplantation world-wide.

Principal


Major

Contributer

We invite you to explore the opportunities for support available and then let us help you determine what packages or offerings best suit your needs. By supporting the TTS 2024 congress your company is demonstrating their continued support for education for transplant professionals across all related fields. To receive our Sponsorship Opportunities Program please email Kathy Tsandilas, our Director of Sponsorship.

kathy.tsandilas @tts.org