October 23, 2018 Posted by dmckay
The AST Communities of Practice (COPs) offer invaluable opportunities for those in the field of transplantation to connect with others in their specialties. There are big ideas among these groups, but limited funds often prevent these ideas from being executed.
Now through December 31, 2018, the AST will hold its second annual COP Donation Derby. The Donation Derby allows COP members to support the AST and their COP’s initiatives. Prizes of $1,000 are given to the COP who raises the most money, as well as the COP that has...
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July 24, 2018 Posted by dmckay
As you may know, the 2018 Fellows Symposium in Transplantation will be held September 28-30, 2018, in Grapevine, TX. This meeting provides an exclusive opportunity for fellows to participate in specialized scientific sessions and network with senior faculty in our field. Since this meeting was established over twenty years ago, attendees of the Fellows Symposium have worked up to leadership positions within the AST, including the Board of Directors.
To offer further insights about the meeting, I have invited 2017 Fellows attendee, Ali Ahmadi, to write a guest blog post about her...
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June 20, 2018 Posted by dmckay
It was a true honor to be elected as President of the American Society of Transplantation (AST) on June 4. Thank you to everyone who attended the Town Hall at ATC to welcome our incoming leadership.
For over 25 years, I have been directly involved with the AST in various capacities. I look forward to working together with my leadership colleagues and our membership to set the stage for the AST’s future success. My overall vision for my AST Presidency is to improve the lives of organ transplant recipients by expanding public outreach and integrating the AST with patients, clinicians...
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June 08, 2018 Posted by dmckay
At the end of 2017, the transplant community saw changes to the OPTN lung allocation system that came as a surprise to many. Following a suit in federal court, the donor service area (DSA) distribution was replaced with a 250-nautical mile circle around the donor hospital.
To provide further detail on this recent change, I have invited UNOS Chief Executive Officer, Brian Shepard, to write a guest blog post on this topic.
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Last fall, the transplant community was surprised and concerned by a fast-moving series of events that resulted in a sudden change to lung...
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May 21, 2018 Posted by achandraker
Setting the ballot for the AST’s annual election is a process that is taken very seriously, but is also probably not well understood by many of our members. As Chair of the AST’s Governance Committee, I would like to take a few moments to explain the process that is followed annually in order to set the ballot. It is a thorough and thoughtful process. I hope that this overview is helpful in the interest of transparency.
Anil Chandraker
Chair, Governance Committee
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Board Structure and Composition
The AST is a complex organization. Board members are...
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April 11, 2018 Posted by rgill
As a member of the transplant community, you are probably aware that April is Donate Life Month. While not all of us work directly with the organ donation process, it is something that touches every one of us. To support this ongoing effort, the AST provides information about organ donation to the general public through our Power2Save initiative as well as our brand new Live Donor Toolkit.
To celebrate Donate Life Month, we invited Donate Life...
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February 16, 2018 Posted by rgill
On February 8-10, the AST held its 6th Cutting Edge of Transplantation (CEoT) meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. Nearly 400 transplant professionals, legislators, and government agencies came together for a lively discussion about the regulatory barriers in transplantation. This meeting brought together the key players to examine internal and external barriers that have impeded the much-needed progress and innovation in our field.
We kicked off the meeting with a “Shark Tank” type of session on the pros and cons of xenotransplantation. Although I am a proponent of xenotransplantation, I...
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January 31, 2018 Posted by rgill
It is hard to believe that the AST has been a self-managed organization for an entire year now. Prior to January 1, 2017, the Society was managed by an association management company called Association Headquarters. Association Headquarters did a great job handling many of the critical areas of the AST such as pay and employ staff, and provide office space and support services such as accounting and technical support.
As the Society continued to grow, we reached a point where it made more sense to pursue the self-management model. This was a gratifying move in that we experienced...
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January 11, 2018 Posted by rgill
On December 20, 2017, we said goodbye to Terry Strom, a brilliant member of the transplant community and the first past-president of the American Society of Transplant Physicians (predecessor of the AST). Like so many of you reading this post, I considered Terry a personal friend for many years and enjoyed his endless zeal, insights, and candid (and refreshingly non-politically correct) approach to life. He leaves a large void in our field that is not easily measured.
Dr. Strom was the recipient of the AST’s Lifetime Achievement Award, our Society’s highest honor. He touched so...
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December 08, 2017 Posted by rformica
Written by: Richard N. Formica Jr., MD, AST Secretary
Dr. Formica is a Professor of Medicine & Surgery and Director of Transplant Medicine at Yale...
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