As the 2025 AST membership year begins to close, don't forget to renew your membership and reaffirm your commitment to the AST. Renewal invoices were distributed via email and are due December 31, 2025. If you didn't receive your email, you may log in anytime to your AST member account. Don't miss out on all future AST educational, networking, advocacy, and research efforts!

On behalf of the AST, the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT), and The Transplantation Society (TTS), we are excited to invite you to attend the International Transplantation Science Meeting 2025. 

 

ITS 2025 marks the fourth tri-society event in this global collaboration, bringing together top experts, early-career researchers, and transplant professionals worldwide. This meeting offers an exciting forum to explore cutting-edge basic and translational science in and beyond the field of transplantation.

You give everything to your work and your patients - now it’s your turn to recharge.

 

MemberDeals is an exclusive AST member site where you can save on experiences that will help you relax, recharge, and enjoy life.

 

You'll find discounted theme park tickets, special hotel rates, fun activities for family and friends, and so much more.

 

Find your balance. You’ve earned it.

The AST invites members to participate in an exclusive virtual focus group! This session offers a unique opportunity for our industry partners to gather direct feedback from key stakeholders in transplantation – you.  By fostering open dialogues, this activity generates valuable insight, helps improve services, informs decision-making, and shapes future strategies.   

 

Liver Directed Therapy for MASH F2 and F3 Fibrosis 
Friday, October 17, 2025, at 1PM – 1:45 PM ET 
This activity is designed to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of the condition and its management. The discussion will explore the epidemiology and common co-morbidities associated with MASH, highlight the health care resource utilization implications, and review current AASLD practice guidance on clinical assessment and management of MASLD/MASH. In addition, participants will gain a clinical overview of Rezdiffra, offering insights into emerging therapeutic approaches for patients with F2 and F3 fibrosis. 

The AST is now accepting applications for its 2026 Career Development Grant cycle! These grants promote the careers of early-career investigators whose research relates to solid organ transplantation (and/or immunology relating to solid organ transplant).

This course was developed by the AST Transplant Administration and Quality Management Community of Practice as a series of coordinated, live webinars with the goal of creating a comprehensive education program that’s available on demand for professionals in the field of transplant administration. The Foundations Course features a series of videos covering a variety of topics for the transplant administration profession, including sessions on cost reporting, contracting for transplant, and program infrastructure.

AST Communities of Practice (COPs) are where transplant professionals connect, collaborate, and share expertise. With 16 specialty-focused groups, there’s a community for every interest and career stage. Join a COP today to expand your network, contribute to the field, and shape the future of transplantation.

The Living Kidney Donor Medical Provider Toolkit has been fully updated! First published in 2018, the toolkit now includes revisions to all chapters and five new topics: genetic testing, international donor evaluation, GFR considerations, older donors, and tobacco/cannabis use.

Organ donation saves thousands of lives each year, and the system is designed to be safe and reliable. Help the community get the facts - share this article with your patients or on your social channels.

The AST has submitted responses to six proposals released by the OPTN in its latest public comment cycle. View all of our public comment responses here.

Check out our webinar on gender inequity in leadership roles at U.S. academic medical centers, presenting a systematic scoping review of women in academic medicine leadership. Now available on YouTube!

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 Transplantation
Motivated by potential inequities in access to transplantation stemming from the inclusion of Black race coefficients in estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) formulas, the United States Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) implemented policies in 2022 and 2023 mandating the use of race-neutral eGFR formulas and the modification of waiting times for Black patients. We evaluated the impact of these policies on access to kidney transplantation using national registry data and supplementary OPTN data describing all waiting time modifications.

Source: LWW Journals
Regional differences in liver transplantation (LT) may exist. We described liver transplant populations in the US and European transplant centers over 2 decades. Data from 2 large LT registries: the US Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) and the European Liver Transplant Registry (ELTR), years 2000–2022, were compared. There were 109,048 recipients of transplant from ELTR (30 countries), 128,765 from SRTR, and a higher proportion of HCC in ELTR (29% vs. 20%). Chronic hepatitis B (9% vs. 3%) and alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) (30% vs. 23%) occurred more frequently among European recipients of transplant; chronic hepatitis C (18% vs. 27%) and NASH/metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis (MASH) (7% vs. 19%) for the United States (all p<0.0001). 

Source: LWW Journals
Sodium-glucose cotransporter inhibitors (SGLTi) slow chronic kidney disease progression and reduce kidney failure events. Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) remain at high risk for these outcomes. SGLTi cause an initial and sustained decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and have a higher risk of urogenital infection, both of which are major concerns for KTRs. We sought to (1) assess the reversibility of eGFR changes and (2) explore safety and tolerability using sotagliflozin, a dual SGLT1/2 inhibitor.