Seasons Greeting from IPTA President

Dear IPTA members, colleagues and friends,

The IPTA Executive, Council and Committees are pleased to provide you with the third Newsletter this year for an update of our Association's activities. We will give you an overview on the projects and initiatives of the Allied Health Committee, Publication Committee, Membership Committee and Awards Committee with information on the newly introduced IPTA-TTS Congress Scientific Awards for trainees, allied health professionals and members from emerging countries. Most importantly, the IPTA 2017 Congress Chair Anne Dipchand will give an update on the upcoming 9th Congress of our Association in Barcelona, Spain, from May 27-30, 2017. The Scientific Committee has developed an exciting program that meets the needs of participants from across the world.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming IPTA Congress. Until then, feel free to reach out to me at any time with IPTA-related questions or comments. I always appreciate hearing from you.

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone for your engagement and support of the IPTA, wish everyone a relaxing and peaceful holiday season!

Yours sincerely,

Burkhard Tönshoff
IPTA President

Membership Committee Update

The Membership Committee has been active in working to recruit new members to the Association. In particular, to take advantage of the Barcelona meeting to broaden the membership in Europe and Asia. Steps have been taken to clarify the membership form and improve the capacity to pay for membership on-line.

The benefits of membership regarding the journal and awards and meetings has given us increased opportunities for recruitment.

We are hoping in the next six months leading up to the Barcelona meeting to address initiatives to increase the membership of junior trainees, researchers and young faculty and broaden membership amongst allied health and nursing.

We are happy to receive any ideas for the Membership Committee and any interested members who would like to join the Committee.

Stephen Alexander
Membership Committee Chair

IPTA Publications Committee Update

The IPTA Publications and Communications Committee is responsible for developing various publications relevant to IPTA members for publication in Pediatric Transplantation, the official journal of the IPTA. The Committee met recently to discuss future publications but would welcome feedback from members on topics they feel would be important for consideration, comments can be sent to info@iptaonline.org.

We are also pleased to welcome our new Committee members: Richard Kirk, cardiologist from Texas, Erika Pace, liver transplant specialist, Mariastella Serrano, liver transplant specialist, Manuel Rodriguez-Davalos, Director of the pediatric transplant unit in New Haven, Kenneth Brayman, transplant surgeon, Charlottesville, and Ryan Fischer, liver transplant specialist, Kansas City.

Guido Filler
Publications Committee Chair

Allied Health Committee Update

The Allied Health Committee is excited to announce our new members. First, joining us a Co-Chairs elect are Louise Bannister from Toronto, ON, CA and Beverly Kosmach-Park from Pittsburgh, PA, USA. They will take over as co-chairs at the Congress in May, and we are excited for their enthusiasm to lead this Committee moving forward. Other new Committee members include Christine Divens (Clinical Nurse Specialist, Pittsburgh, PA, USA), Barbara Roessner (Physician Assistant, Omaha, NE, USA), Luca Dello Strologo, (Nephrologist, Rome, Italy), Laura O’Melia (Nurse Practitioner, Boston, MA, USA) and Karyn Sanson (Nurse Specialist, Auckland, NZ). This group joins our continuing members Debra Lefkowitz (Psychologist, Philadelphia, PA, USA; outgoing Chair and current IPTA Councilor), Dawn Freiberger (Nurse Coordinator, Boston, MA, USA), Jo Wray (Psychologist, London, UK), Diana Shellmer (Psychologist, Pittsburgh, PA, USA).

The AHP Committee is currently examining some new initiatives. Our first project is to survey our membership to gain a better understanding of group interests, project ideas, and preferred communication methods. We’ve seen tremendous enthusiasm from our Allied Health colleagues at prior Congresses, and want to figure out how to better harness this energy and foster international connections between this very diverse group of people. Other proposed projects include additional monographs for Pediatric Transplantation as well as position papers and best practice guidelines.

Debra Lefkowitz
AHP Interim Committee Chair