In Memoriam: Dr. David E.R. Sutherland (1940–2025)

David E.R. Sutherland
Pioneer of Pancreas and Islet Transplantation
The global transplant community mourns the passing of Dr. David E.R. Sutherland, who died at the age of 84. A visionary transplant surgeon, scientist, and mentor, Dr. Sutherland’s groundbreaking work helped redefine the treatment of diabetes and solid organ transplantation. His legacy lives on in thousands of patients, in the programs he built, and in the many surgeons he trained around the world.
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A lifelong member of the University of Minnesota faculty, Dr. Sutherland performed the world’s first clinical islet transplant in 1974 and the first living-donor partial pancreas transplant in 1979. His pioneering research into islet autotransplantation for chronic pancreatitis allowed patients to retain insulin function after total pancreatectomy, transforming the standard of care for this painful and complex disease.

He served as Director of the University of Minnesota’s Pancreas Transplant Program, the oldest and largest of its kind, and later founded the International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Registry to advance collaboration and data-sharing in the field. Under his guidance, more than 2,000 pancreas transplants were performed at Minnesota, setting a global benchmark.

Dr. Sutherland’s professional influence extended far beyond Minnesota. He served as President of The Transplantation Society (2002–2004), the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the Cell Transplant Society, and the International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association. His many honors include the Medawar Prize (2012) and the Thomas E. Starzl Prize in Surgery and Immunology (2016).

In a tribute from 2012, his colleague and friend the late Dr. Hans Sollinger wrote:

“David’s professional life is described in some detail, but I must emphasize his great willingness to share and help everybody in the field to get better results. He was unselfish, and personally started the International Pancreas Transplant Registry, calling out around the world to ensure no case went unrecorded.”

Dr. Sollinger also reflected on Dr. Sutherland’s character in a memorable introduction for the Medawar Prize:

“David Sutherland is not only a great surgeon but the best human being I know in our field.”

His colleague Dr. Raja Kandaswamy, professor and vice chief of transplantation surgery at the University of Minnesota, described him as:

“A kind-hearted person with boundless generosity, a keen intellect and sharp wit, and the desire and willingness to help anyone in need.”

Known for his high-speed speaking style and overflowing office stacked with journals and data, Dr. Sutherland was as energetic as he was brilliant. He trained over 100 transplant surgeons, many of whom have gone on to lead major programs across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Perhaps most poignantly, Dr. Sutherland was also a living kidney donor—donating to his beloved wife, Vanessa. His act of personal generosity mirrored the compassion he brought to every patient and professional relationship.

Dr. David E.R. Sutherland’s influence will endure for decades to come. His work not only extended lives—it built institutions, inspired generations, and redefined what was possible in organ and cell transplantation. He was a surgeon of uncommon vision, a mentor of unmatched generosity, and a human being of profound decency.

Our dedicated page has photos, videos and information on Dr. Sutherland.

WTC Opening Keynote Speaker Revealed!

 
Keynote Speaker

Chris Klug Headlines WTC 2025 Opening Ceremonies

 

The World Transplant Congress is thrilled to announce Chris Klug - Olympic medalist, liver transplant recipient, and advocate - as our Opening Ceremonies Keynote Speaker.

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of Chris Klug’s lifesaving liver transplant as he shares his inspiring journey and unique perspective as a transplant recipient. Just 18 months after his surgery, Chris made history by winning a bronze medal in snowboarding at the 2002 Winter Olympics - the first transplant recipient to ever medal at the Games. Today, he continues to inspire through his athletic achievements, advocacy, and commitment to transplant awareness.

We are also proud to highlight that the Chris Klug Foundation is a supporter of the Living Donor Circle of Excellence, an initiative recognizing employers who provide salary support for living organ donors.

This is more than a keynote - it’s a celebration of perseverance, purpose, and progress in transplantation.
Chris Klug
Chris was diagnosed with a rare liver disease and waited seven years for a transplant and became the first Olympic athlete to compete after an organ transplant. In 2004, he released the book To the Edge and Back.
 
EARLY REGISTRATION & HOTEL RESERVATIONS NOW OPEN!
Now is the perfect time to plan your participation in this landmark event. Register by May 23, 2025 to take advantage of discounted fees and secure your spot.
Student Ambassador Program
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 application deadline has been extended to April 30 2025.
Recipients receive:
✅ Free Congress Registration
✅ Up to $2,000 Travel Assistance
✅ 4 Nights Stay in Congress Hotel
📅 Apply by April 30, 2025

JUST RELEASED - Transplantation Journal - April 2025 Issue

It is all about the outcome after transplantation: getting patients ready and transplanting them with the best quality organs are some of the highlights of the April issue in Transplantation.

Ethical aspects of normothermic regional perfusion and integrating biomarkers into normothermic preservation in cardiac transplantation highlight novel mechanisms and relevant aspects on the way to optimize transplant function. The success of outcomes is, at least in part, determined by the condition of the patient going into transplantation. Home-based frailty interventions may make a difference. Will the initial use of belatacept for renal transplant recipients of kidneys procured from donors with acute kidney injury improve early graft function? AND...Updates from the Sixth Sam Strober Workshop on Clinical Immune Tolerance are only a few of the highlights of the April issue of the journal. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS ISSUE

TTS MEMBERS - CLICK HERE TO SIGN-IN FOR OPEN ACCESS THROUGH TTS.ORG


TTS By-Election for Councilor-at-large - Europe (2025-2026)

In accordance with our bylaws, we are holding a by-election for the Councilor-at-large Europe (2022-2026) position, which is being vacated by John Forsythe. The term for this position will last until the end of the current term, September 23, 2026. Please choose one of the five candidates listed below and cast your vote. Deadline to vote is April 8, 2025 @ 23:59

Candidates

Salvatore Gruttadauria

Italy
Biography

Salvatore Gruttadauria, Italy

Dr. Salvatore Gruttadauria is the Chairmen of the Department Abdominal Center at the IRCCS ISMETT UMPC Italy in Palermo Italy.

He is Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Department of Surgery of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Professor of Surgery at the University of Catania in Italy.

Dr. Gruttadauria was trained at ISMETT by the T. Starzl transplant team and became the first Sicilian surgeon to perform a liver transplant in Sicily. In 2021, he is the first surgeon in the world to transplant a liver from a SARS COVID positive donor into an adult recipient.

President of the 2024 national meeting of the Italian Society of Organ Transplantation, has performed more than 7,000 major surgical procedures of which 1000 organ transplants. He is the author of more than 300 scientific publications with 40 of h index.

Nassim Kamar

France
Biography

Nassim Kamar, France

Nassim Kamar is a Professor of Nephrology at Toulouse University Hospital in France and is the Head of the Department of Nephrology and Organ Transplantation. He is the Director of the heart, liver, pancreas and kidney transplant programs. Currently, he is the President-Elect of the Francophone Society for Transplantation.

He received his medical degree from Dijon University, France. Thereafter, his internship was conducted at Toulouse University, where he graduated with a specialty in Nephrology. He received additional training in renal replacement therapy and medical pedagogy. He also completed a 1-year postdoctoral fellowship in basic research at La Charité Hospital, Berlin, Germany. Prof Kamar was awarded his Ph.D. degree in 2006. He is member of a research group at the INSERM UMR 1291, Toulouse Institute for Infectious and Inflammatory Disease (Infinity).

Prof Kamar’s interests are viral infection, particularly hepatitis E virus, hepatitis C virus, BK virus, and cytomegalovirus infections that develop after solid organ transplantation. He is also interested in immunosuppression after transplantation. Prof Kamar has published more than 760 papers in peer-review journals.

Between 2013 and 2017, he was a member of The Council of the International Transplant Infectious Disease Society.

In 2008, he received an award from la Fondation du Rein. In 2009, he received the Grand Prix de Médecine from the Académie des Sciences Inscriptions, et Belles-lettres de Toulouse. In 2015, he received the Palme de Médecine des CHU.

His vision for TTS is to encourage collaborative participation and representation for TTS members from all around the world.

Nithya Santhana Krishnan

United Kingdom
Biography

Nithya Santhana Krishnan, United Kingdom

Professor N S Krishnan  MBBS, FRCP, MD
Consultant Transplant Nephrologist
Professor, The Center of Health & Communities, Coventry University<
Associate Professor, University of Warwick
Former Co-Chair, Education Committee and CME Committee, TTS
Executive Board, Commonwealth ‘Tribute to Life’
Member of Scientific Advisory Board, Mohan Foundation, India

Professor Krishnan is a physician with a national and international profile in various clinical, research and educational areas in nephrology and transplantation.  She is leadership trained, including the Harvard Leading Innovations in Health Care & Education< program, and has over 250 peer-reviewed academic outputs. Her main research interests include antibody incompatible transplantation, prediction models in transplantation using AI, long term outcomes of transplantation, live donation, nonadherence in young adults and health inequalities. She is particularly passionate about helping women around the world, to break the glass ceilings and fly off from glass cliffs.

As Consultant Transplant Nephrologist at UHCW she conceptualized and devised a formal partnership in Transplantation, between UHCW and Oxford, forming the COxTNet, which has pioneered the way for collaborative partnerships between other units in U.K.

As the Education Committee Co-chair of The Transplantation Society, she has been involved in setting up training programs in transplantation to benefit trainees globally. She has actively helped with the launch of the Commonwealth ‘Tribute to life’, a consortium in transplantation to enable organ donation and transplantation in developing countries.

As the first Professor of Clinical Health at Coventry University, she is leading the educational and research collaboration with MOHAN Foundation, India, and developing online training modules for nurses, coordinators and doctors in transplantation world-wide.

She has won the following national and international awards:

  1. For the Sake of Honour Award, the La Renon TANKER Foundation, India, January 2021
  2. Women’s Role Model Award, British Asian Physicians of Indian Origin, U.K, November 2020
  3. Finalist, Asian Women Achievement Awards, Professions Category, U.K, July 2020

Marti Manyalich Vidal

Spain
Biography

Marti Manyalich Vidal, Spain

Dr. Marti Manyalich, MD, PhD, is a globally recognized specialist with decades of experience in the field of organ, tissue and cell donation for transplantation. In 1991 he founded  the Transplant Procurement Management (TPM) program dedicated to empowering health professionals in donation and transplantation worldwide and President of the DTI Foundation (Donation & Transplantation Institute) a non-profit organization based in Barcelona with the aim to raise organ donation in the world to improve society’s quality of life by training health professionals in organ donation & transplantation, trough cooperation projects and consultancy.  

Dr Marti Manyalich is also former Assessor on Transplantation at the Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, as well as professor of international Master in donation & Transplantation of organ tissues and cells at University of Barcelona. He has written many scientific publications and holds memberships in the most relevant international organizations in this field. As an example, he has been president of ISODP & ETCO, vice president of EATB and TTS European Councillor, honorary member of ESOT, among other positions and recognitions for his outstanding career."

Georgios Tsoulfas

Greece
Biography

Georgios Tsoulfas, Greece

Dr Georgios Tsoulfas received his MD from Brown University School of Medicine and completed a general surgery residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, as well as a transplant research fellowship at the Starzl Transplant Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. He then completed a two-year transplantation surgery fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and then joined the Division of Solid Organ Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center as an Assistant Professor of Surgery. He moved back to Greece in 2008, where he is currently Professor of Transplantation Surgery and Chief at the Department of Transplantation Surgery at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki School of Medicine and the Center for Research and Innovation in Solid Organ Transplantation.  He has published over 200 papers in peer-reviewed Journals and in PubMed, as well as 35 book chapters with an H-index 34 and an i10-index 82 and over 7500 citations.  He has edited 8 books and is a reviewer for 30 International Journal and on the Editorial Board of several others, including International Surgery and Annals of Surgical Oncology.

 The recipient of awards such as the Edward E. Mason award for excellence in patient care and education, he is a member of a number of professional organizations including the the TTS, Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, Association for Academic Surgery, International College of Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, International Liver Transplantation Society, Society for Laparoscopic Surgeons and International HepaticoPancreaticoBilliary Association.  Also the recipient of the American College of Surgeons International Guest Scholarship. He has served as a member of multiple committees, including the International Relations Committee of the American College of Surgeons and the International Relations Committee of the American HepaticoPancreaticoBiliary Association (AHPBA).  Currently the president of the Greek Chapter of the International College of Surgeons, he has served as World President of the International College of Surgeons and Chair of the International Relations Committee of the American College of Surgeons. He has served as a member of the AHPBA and the IHPBA Education and Training Committees and the E-AHPBA Education Committee (Training Program Accreditation), the ASTS CME and Professional Development committee and the AASLD Training and Workforce Committee.  He is also a member of the Executive Council of the Hellenic Surgical Society and President of the Hellenic Transplantation Society.

Clinical and research interests include hepatobiliary surgery, primary and secondary hepatic malignancies, ischemia/reperfusion injury, solid organ transplantation, as well as medical/surgical education and the use of technology, including applications of artificial technology and 3D printing in surgery.


Transplantation Journal Highlights

Transplantation Journal - Social Media Content

Inactivating the Innate Immune Receptor CD11b With a First-in-Class Monoclonal Antibody Prolongs the Survival of Kidney Allografts in Nonhuman Primates
Peritransplant ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) plays a central pathogenic role in nondelayed or delayed kidney allograft function immediately after transplantation and increases the risk of subsequent rejection. Potential therapies targeting specific cytokines or complement proteins to limit IRI have failed in clinical trials. Monoclonal antibody 107 (mAb107), a “pure” (nonactivating) inhibitor of the archetypal innate immune receptor integrin CD11b, has been shown to extend the survival of IRI nonhuman primate native kidneys in an in situ model.
Combined Pancreas-Kidney Transplantation After Rescue Allocation: The Eurotransplant Experience: A Retrospective Multicenter Outcome Analysis
Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKT) is the therapy of choice for selected patients with complicated type 1 diabetes mellitus and end-stage renal disease. Pancreas rescue allocation was implemented in Eurotransplant allocation algorithms to increase organ utilization, concurrently facilitating transplantation of supposedly inferior quality organs. The aim of this study was to examine whether outcomes of SPKT after rescue allocation, which can either be recipient-oriented extended allocation or competitive rescue allocation, were as good as after standard allocation.

Transplantation Direct - Social Media Content

Outcomes of Kidney Transplantation From Donors on Renal Replacement Therapy
The increasing demand for organs has pushed transplant providers to expand kidney acceptance criteria. The use of kidneys from donors with AKI has been shown to provide good long-term graft survival. We aim to evaluate and compare the outcomes of deceased donor kidney transplantation from donors with acute kidney injury (AKI), either with or without renal replacement therapy (AKI-RRT) before donation.
Clinical Outcomes and Donor-specific Antibody Rebound 5 y After Kidney Transplant Enabled by Imlifidase Desensitization
Imlifidase is an IgG-cleaving endopeptidase conditionally approved in Europe for desensitization of highly sensitized patients before kidney transplantation. We present 5-y outcomes and donor-specific antibody (DSA) levels for clinical trial participants from a single site who received imlifidase for desensitization before incompatible transplantation (NCT02790437).

TID Best Practices Surveys

The TID section invites you to participate in the following 3 surveys.

These surveys aims to assist in mapping best practices in different scenarios and across different regions with the goal of sharing learnings with the global transplant community to guide practice and optimize patient outcomes.

Upcoming Webinar Presentation


Research Grants and Fellowship Programs

TTS provides funding to individual investigators to support their research in transplantation. The spectrum of studies includes basic, clinical/epidemiological and translational. This individual should have spent five years or less performing research in transplantation (and/or immunology relating to transplant) since obtaining their last doctoral degree (PhD, MD, PharmD, or equivalent). One of these research grants will be preferentially designated to TTS members from a low- or middle-income country. Please send application materials and any questions to jennifer.groverman@tts.org.

Letter of Intent Deadline: April 30, 2025

The ISN and TTS join forces to support the training of young physicians from low resource areas receiving hands-on training in advanced host institutions to acquire state of-the-art knowledge in transplantation. The ultimate goal of such training is to improve the transplantation standards in their home countries upon their return and become leaders in their fields. The training focuses on providing the skills and knowledge specifically required by the home institution. ISN-TTS Fellowship trainings can be long (6-12 months) or short term (3-6 months).

Application Deadline: May 1, 2025


Women in Transplantation Research Grants

Women in Transplantation is delighted to announce WIT funding opportunities for 2025. This marks the fifth year WIT is offering the Research Fellowship in Sex and Gender in Solid Organ Transplantation. WIT will also continue to offer a grant to faculty working in low—or middle-income countries. Finally, WIT is excited to announce the inaugural Women in Transplantation (WIT) seeding grant, designed to address sex and gender inequities among Indigenous Peoples undergoing solid organ transplantation.

IPTA 2025 - Call for Abstracts Deadline Extended

Call for Abstracts EXTENDED Deadline
April 8, 2025

VIEW Abstract Topics

Congress Awards Application Deadline
April 25, 2025


IXA 2025 - Call for Abstracts and Congress Awards

Call for Abstracts Deadline
May 1, 2025

VIEW Abstract Topics

Congress Awards Application Deadline
May 26, 2025


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