The AST is offering an exclusive membership discount to transplant trainees until March 31, 2025. We're on a mission to help trainees boost their careers using the AST's benefits.

Through March 31, trainees can join the AST for just $60. To join with this promotion, you must qualify as a transplant trainee and be approved for membership. To receive the discount, use code TRAINEE2025.

Immerse yourself in the latest research and breakthroughs in the field of transplantation at WTC 2025, hosted in the dynamic city of San Francisco. This global congress draws experts, healthcare practitioners, and researchers and provides them with an opportunity to explore in-depth the sector’s newest developments.

The WTC Student Ambassador Program aims to promote transplantation as an exciting and rewarding field of specialization for 3rd and 4th-year medical students. By engaging future medical professionals, this program will foster awareness and enthusiasm for organ donation and transplantation while enhancing participation at the WTC 2025 Congress. The deadline to apply is April 30, 2025.
 

We’re thrilled to kick off AST’s 2025 Member Referral Campaign, where you can grow our vibrant transplant community and win exciting prizes! This year, there’s even more to look forward to with the World Transplant Congress (WTC) happening this August in San Francisco. By referring your colleagues, you're helping them access AST’s exclusive resources and connecting them with an incredible global community ahead of this must-attend event.

HRSA announced an OPTN Board of Directors special election will be held later this year. Applications to be considered for inclusion on the ballot for the upcoming OPTN Board of Directors special election will be accepted through 5 p.m. ET on April 4, 2025. Slides from HRSA’s February 28 OPTN Board Special Election Update webinar can be found here and additional information, including the application form, can be found on the HRSA and OPTN websites. The AST strongly encourages all interested members to review the background information about the special election, who is eligible, and the expected next steps, and submit an application before the April 4 due date.

After receiving input from the AST’s communities of practice, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access to Life (IDEAL) Committee, OPTN Policy Committee, and Board of Directors, the AST submitted feedback on the nine items the OPTN released for public comment on January 21, 2025. You can find the AST’s comments here.

The Transplant Therapeutics Consortium (TTC) has submitted the Full Qualification Package for the iBox Scoring System to the FDA, the final step in the FDA Biomarker Qualification Process. This takes us one step closer to having new therapies that better the lives of transplant recipients. The iBox scoring system is the first transplant endpoint to reach this stage of qualification.

The Fellow of the American Society of Transplantation (FAST) designation application is now open to all members who meet the eligibility criteria. Don't miss out on joining this prestigious program and be recognized for your contributions to transplantation!

The AST is pleased to announce its call for nominations for the 2025 Achievement Awards.

Each year, the AST honors its members’ accomplishments and contributions to the field of transplantation through the Achievement Awards. Members are recognized at different levels of their careers with Basic Science Awards, Clinical Science Awards, and Distinguished Career Awards. Nominate a colleague today!

The AST developed a survey aimed at soliciting your perspectives on legislative and regulatory issues that significantly influence both patient care and professional practice. Our goal is to establish a platform for our membership to share their invaluable ideas and perspectives and actively engage with the Public Policy Committee and AST leadership. We look forward to your input as we navigate the dynamics of our ever-evolving landscape of transplant care and practice.

Source: American Journal of Kidney Diseases
Sex inequities in waitlisting became less pronounced over time. During 1997-2000, the adjusted hazard ratio comparing men to women was 0.81; 95%CI: [0.79-0.83]) and by 2017-2020, narrowed to 0.86 [0.85-0.87]). For the outcome of LDKT, during 1997-2000, the adjusted hazard ratio comparing men to women was (0.89 [0.85-0.93]) and by 2017-2020, widened to 0.79 [0.76-0.82]). 

Source: Clinical Transplantation
Renal function varies among liver transplantation (LT) candidates with the same Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD)3.0 score. The impact of marginal grafts on post-LT renal function and prognosis varies based on the pre-LT renal function. We explored the effects of matching recipients with low renal function to marginal donors on graft survival (GS) and post-LT kidney function.

Source: Clinical Transplantation
We identified a weighted total of 71 061 TAAD patients. Among them, 346 (0.49%) were ASOT recipients; of these, 318 (91.9%) were kidney transplant recipients, and 28 (8.1%) were liver transplant recipients.

Source: American Journal of Transplantation
Disparities in access to the organ transplant waitlist are well-documented, but research into modifiable factors has been limited due to lack of access to organized pre-waitlisting data. This study aimed to develop a natural language processing algorithm to extract social determinants of health from free text notes and quantify the association of SDOH with access to the transplant waitlist.