IXA Newsletter - August 2021
Welcome to Professor Wayne Hawthorne, President of the IXA – A behind the scenes peek at the man
Our Association is like a large family, and we are united in times of difficulties. This has been a particularly challenging time, especially with the untimely loss of sitting President, Professor Agnès Azimzadeh.
We are grateful to Professor Wayne Hawthorne for assuming the role of President earlier than anticipated and for ensuring a legacy with Agnès, offering his own leadership that will link the past with the future.
As Director of the National Pancreas and Islet Transplant Laboratories, Wayne’s team was the first in Australia to develop and perform clinical islet cell allogeneic and autologous transplantation among other notable accomplishments. As Director of the Xenotransplantation Research Program at the Westmead Institute of Medical Research, he established the Australian islet and kidney xenotransplant programs.
Given his list of accomplishments it should be no surprise that Professor Hawthorne has been recognized many times for his important contributions to transplantation, including being the inaugural recipient of the prestigious Ian McKenzie Prize for Outstanding Contribution in Transplantation from The Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand. Wayne has also been awarded the Key Opinion Leader in Transplantation by TTS, a XENOME Award in Transplantation from the European Union and an Australia Harvard University Fellowship for Transplantation to add to his many other awards.
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Within IXA Wayne has been one of the rocks that we have built upon. Having served in the Council for many years and on the Vanguard Committee (now YI), in 2019 he became President-Elect. Wayne has led efforts for the establishment of international standards and guidance including the Changsha Communique; he was instrumental in its 10-year renewal as attested during the third WHO Global Consultation on Regulatory Requirements for Xenotransplantation Clinical Trials. Wayne has provided invaluable contributions to the definition of international criteria for the regulation of clinical trials in xenotransplantation. His ties to many international research groups have led him to become a reference for groups on all continents and a valued member of our IXA community along with several appointments as visiting Professor to numerous Universities in Asia. Above the photo on the right is from one of his many trips into China’s interior following an international workshop. |
But, in the discussion about Professor Hawthorne “the professional” let us not forget Wayne “the man” for one could not exist without the other. To gain a more personal insight to our new President, we can turn to his friend, Professor Peter Cowan (past IXA President) for a peak behind the curtain.
One of Wayne’s Ducati motor bikes
His Ducati XDiavel S 1,262cc –‘the beast’
Wayne’s love of cars extends to V8 Super car racing and Rally car driving
Even more surprisingly, he is a man of hidden musical talents (see picture on the left, Wayne playing a Chinese Zither at the 2018 Changsha Communique Dinner).
Wayne is also an expert in the martial arts having done several forms for decades including over the years with his sons. He believes that these kinds of social activities and cultural values can help us fulfill our life goals, build character, and connect as a community.
Perhaps, the Presidency of the IXA is the first step to further political aspirations (see picture on the left of the 2017 IXA council visit to Washington DC, Capital building).
Wayne is a teacher, a mentor, a leader, an organizer, a consensus builder, and a doer. His remarkable array of talents will help to insure the continued growth of the international xenotransplant community.
We are pleased to welcome Wayne’s tenure as our President and look forward to working with him.
If you have not had a chance, please read Dr. Hawthorne’s inaugural message at https://tts.org/ixa-about/ixa-presidents-message
Xenotransplantation Journal
Leo Buhler, Editor-in Chief of Xenotransplantation is pleased to announce that Xenotransplantation Journal has achieved an impact factor of 3.907 for the period 2019-2020. The impact factor is a measure of the number of citations over a period of time compared to the number of articles published. A comparatively high impact factor means that more articles are being cited by our scientific peers. It is an important tool that helps readers and prospective authors to recognize which journals consistently publish important articles. Many quality journals with high impact factors feature articles that cover a broad topic of science and medicine while others are more narrowly focused on specialties. Xenotransplantation Journal is the official journal of the IXA, and the premiere journal dedicated to the field of xenotransplantation.
Time to take a lead? We need your help! We are looking for young, motivated, energetic members (or candidates to become members) willing to act and help organize the IXA Podcasts.
Our Association needs to rejuvenate our communication strategies and offer an effective, portable, and convenient way to deliver topics of interest for all our members. This project cannot be successful without your input. You will not be alone: the IXA Council will team up with you.
If you are interested and willing to dedicate some of your time, please, contact the IXA Sections Manager, Suzanne Landis at Suzanne.landis@tts.org.
The Joint Congress of the IXA and the Cell Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Society will take place virtually on September 23-25, 2021. While we all wish we were able to meet in person we are excited about the many innovations and opportunities that are now available for our virtual Congress. The call for abstracts is currently closed but registration is still open. DO NOT FORGET TO REGISTER at https://www.ixa-ctrms2021.org/registration. Note that Registration fees are a reasonable $25-$50 for students/fellows/trainees and allied healthcare professionals.
Information regarding program structure can be found on the Joint IXA-CTRMS Virtual Congress website at IXA-CTRMS 2021 - Home and following the appropriate links at the top of the page.
We hope that many of those who would not otherwise be able to attend an international meeting will be able to participate in this unique opportunity to share views and learn the latest from many of the opinion leaders and other important members of the xenotransplantation community. Sessions will be available live and on-demand with access to the entire scientific content for up to one year after the Congress ends and can serve as a key resource for registrants for months after the event.
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Address
International Xenotransplantation Association
C/O The Transplantation Society
International Headquarters
740 Notre-Dame Ouest
Suite 1245
Montréal, QC, H3C 3X6
Canada