The IPTA Education Committee is excited to share our latest developments and initiatives from this 2023 year. The Education Committee aims to provide leadership in pediatric transplant education across all levels of training and expertise. To advance this mission, the committee develops and promotes comprehensive educational activities to meet the diverse needs of our global members. The committee supports the innovation of educational programs both within IPTA and at scientific meetings.

The Education Committee has undertaken several key projects to promote pediatric transplant education. Our first major project was the organization of the SMARTER Initiative, which has been a significant source of monthly educational materials, including podcasts and journal club presentations. Focusing on pediatric transplantation, the SMARTER Initiative has extensively covered cardiac and lung transplantation research. We aim to continue to share the complexities, recent advancements, and potential future directions in pediatric solid organ transplantation.

In collaboration with the SMARTER initiative, we have submitted an editorial and literature review focusing on the impact of COVID-19 on SOT recipients and the emerging role of telehealth. Work in progress of the Education Committee includes exploring and reviewing transition tools for multi-organ transplantation, enhancing our understanding, and supporting access to education on organ-specific transplant and transition tools.

The Education Committee is currently planning a Virtual Education Symposium, which is scheduled to take place in late 2024. This seminar is intended for Fellows and Allied Health & Nursing Professionals (AHNP). We are excited to share more details about the event with you soon and anticipate your participation.

Finally, we are still collecting responses for our survey to assess the knowledge gaps and innovation in education for IPTA fellows. This survey, comprising 29 questions, aims to refine the quality of education delivery and develop a comprehensive curriculum for future pediatric transplant professionals. The survey is conveniently available in both English and Spanish to accommodate your preferences. We would appreciate your participation and time. To get started, please click on the survey link provided below:

Please click here to access the survey in English

Please click here to access the survey in Spanish

We thank you for your continued support and look forward to your active participation in these initiatives.

Editorial Board:
Welcome to Drs Don Hayes and Marc Schecter as new Lung Associate Editors. Welcome to Dr Jens Eickhoff as our new Statistical Editor.

Research Notes:
Submissions to the Research Notes category are peer-reviewed publications of clinical or laboratory observations, in abbreviated form. Research Notes are limited in scope (900 word count limit) relative to full length Original Research Manuscripts. Research Notes are peer-reviewed, indexed in Medline, accessible to literature searches, and cited. Research Notes must have the following subsections: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion

PEDIATRIC TRANSPLANTATION AUTHOR GUIDELINES

Global Forum Submission Type:
Articles submitted to the new Global Forum category must follow the standard presentation format and should convey data from emerging pediatric transplant programs, with a focus on low and low middle income countries. This submission type is meant to address the shortage of pediatric transplant data from low resource settings. Authors may describe the transplant processes (deceased and/or living donor), patient characteristics, donor profiles and clinical outcomes of a single center, region or country. The authors are at liberty to discuss the barriers to transplantation encountered, issues in setting up a new pediatric transplant program and propose strategies to overcome these challenges, including opportunities for advocacy from the global pediatric transplant community.

A Note About PETR’s Impact Factor:
What is an Impact Factor (IF)? The IF is a measure of the frequency with which the "average article" in a journal has been cited in a particular year. It is commonly used to evaluate the relative importance of a journal within its field. The Impact Factor is calculated by dividing the number of citations in the current year to articles published in the previous two years by the total number of articles published in the previous two years.

Who calculates the IF? Clarivate Analytics is an independent US company focused on scientific and academic research, patent analysis and legal regulation, pharmaceutical and biotechnological research. Clarivate is responsible for calculating scientific journal’s Impact Factor.

Why did PETR’s impact factor decrease? The decrease in our IF from 1.54 in 2021 to 1.34 in 2022 was expected and understandable. It was related to a change in the way Clarivate calculates the IF and a staggered incorporation of Early View articles into the IF over a period of 3 years together with the COVID related inflation of research output. 90% of journals in the JCR had a decline in IF. While PETR had a decrease in IF, we had an increase in category ranking (108/130 [Pediatrics]; 21/26 [Transplantation]).

Review Articles:
The EICs are interested in hearing suggestions from our readership for Invited Review Article topics. Please submit suggestions to smbartosh@wisc.edu or Burkhard.Toenshoff@med.uni-heidelberg.de

The IPTA Outreach Committee is delighted to announce the winners of its 2023 Outreach Program awards.

Abass Ndao Hospital, Senegal – Hopital des Enfantes Malades-Necker, Paris, France

Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Colombo, Sri Lanka – National University Health System, Singapore

The winning pairs demonstrated their intention to work together to optimize transplant services and outcomes for children in low resource settings maintaining the highest clinical and ethical standards. We wish them the best of luck in their endeavours!

Please be on the lookout for more news on the IPTA Outreach Fellowship Program 2024, which will open early next year.

IPTA Pediatric Allocation Landscape Survey
Child Organ Allocation Advocacy: An International Initiative

The International Pediatric Transplant Association (IPTA) believes it is important to represent the community of members, patients, and families it serves. By broadening the scope of advocacy, we promote the cause of children and young people who will benefit from transplants around the world.

A group within IPTA focused on International Advocacy has been shedding light to the current landscape of pediatric transplant organ allocation. To date, pediatric patient wait list mortality continues to exist due to the persistent disparity between organ supply and demand.

Below is one of two questionnaires that aims to identify current pediatric transplant programs and allocation policies around the world. Once the first questionnaire is filed, a second short survey dedicated to your area of specialty will be forwarded.

Thank you for your participation in the IPTA. We invite you to read more about our initiative in our most recent publication on this topic at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/petr.14317

Click here to take the survey

Thank you!