TTS at WHA79: Advancing the Global Transplantation Agenda

The Transplantation Society (TTS) participated in the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79) in Geneva, joining representatives from WHO's 193 Member States, as well as Observer States international organizations, and global health partners to advance transplantation as an essential component of resilient health systems and universal health coverage.

Medhat Askar @WHH79

The week kicked off with TTS President-Elect Nadey Hakim engaging with WHA79 President of Dr. Víctor Elías Atallah Lajam, the Minister of Health of the Dominican Republic and also with the Minister of Health of Cameroon.

Dr. Víctor Elías Atallah Lajam / Nadey Hakim

As a non-State actor in official relations with the World Health Organization TTS advocated for action to address the growing burden of organ failure and inequities in access to transplantation worldwide. Medhat Askar, Chair of TTS’ WHO Committee, and a member of the WHO’s Expert Committee on Donation and Transplantation, delivered TTS’ official statement, urging Member States to advance ethical organ donation and transplantation by establishing strong regulatory frameworks, implementing standardized monitoring and reporting systems, and ensuring lifelong follow-up of living donors.

Read the full statement

Video of Medhat Askar Delivering TTS Statement

An official side event hosted by the UAE and supported by Spain on “From Awareness to Action: Advancing Global Best Practices in Organ Donation and Transplantation” featuring TTS speaking on Enhancing Workforce Capacity through a Comprehensive Competency Framework was well attended and enabled interaction with many Ministry of Health representatives committed to initiating and improving transplantation in their countries.

View Slides Presented

TTS Awards Nominations – Deadline extended to June 19!

The nomination deadline for the TTS Awards has been extended to June 19.

Please also note that the Starzl criteria have now evolved to reflect a broader, more inclusive, multidisciplinary vision of transplantation. While the award has traditionally recognised outstanding contributions in areas including drug development, tissue typing, organ preservation, and surgical innovation, the 2026 criteria have extended beyond these domains to acknowledge transformational and impactful contributions in clinical care, basic and translational science, health policy, and health systems delivery in transplantation. We encourage nominations that reflect the diverse global expertise, collaboration, and leadership that continue to advance the field and improve access to transplantation and patient outcomes worldwide.

Please refer to the detailed information for each award:

The Medawar Prize is widely regarded as the field’s highest honor for outstanding scientific contributions.

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TTS-Starzl Innovation Award

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Upcoming Webinar Presentations

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TTS 2026 Late-Breaking Abstracts and Extended Poster Submissions

Deadline - May 28, 2026

Did you miss the abstract submission deadline?
Do you have late-breaking discoveries, new data, or important results you would like to present?

There is still an opportunity to submit your work for later breaker or poster consideration at TTS 2026!

Visit the abstract submission page and submit your abstract today.

Late-Breaking Abstract Submission is now open until May 28, 2026.

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For more Congress details

www.tts2026.org

Enhanced Program Views Now Available

This week we have added some new ways to browse the program, including a searcheable faculty list and new table view. Start viewing today!

View the Program

TTS and WIT Awards Nominations

The Transplantation Society is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the Society’s most prestigious honors: the TTS Medawar Prize, the TTS Thomas Starzl Innovation Award, the TTS Dr. Sanjeev Kanoria Liver Transplant Award, WIT Awards and TTS Recognition Awards. TTS members are encouraged to nominate deserving colleagues whose work has had a meaningful impact on transplantation and the global transplant community.

The nomination deadline is May 18, 2026.

The Medawar Prize is widely regarded as the field’s highest honor for outstanding scientific contributions.

Click for more details

TTS-Starzl Innovation Award

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Transplantation Journal Highlights

Transplantation Journal - Social Media Content

Prehabilitation in Solid Organ Transplant Candidates: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Solid organ transplant (SOT) candidates often experience functional decline during waiting times. Prehabilitation has shown benefits in other high-risk surgeries, but limited data are available for SOT. This study evaluated the effectiveness of prehabilitation on outcomes in transplant candidates.

Direct Measurement of Organ Procurement Organization Donor Potential Using Comprehensive Referral Analysis: Feasibility and Implications for Assessing Organ Procurement Organization Performance

Previous methods for assessing organ procurement organization (OPO) performance have not been reliable, making it necessary to develop a direct measurement of donation service area donor potential. The purpose of this study was to use a previously validated direct measurement of donor potential using referral data from 6 US OPOs to assess its usability as an alternative to current methods.

Transplantation Direct - Social Media Content

The Impact of Normothermic Machine Liver Perfusion on Early Renal Outcomes After Simultaneous Liver-kidney Transplantation: A Propensity Score–Matched Analysis

No study has assessed the effect of end-ischemic normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) on renal function in simultaneous liver-kidney (SLK) transplantation. We hypothesized that by mitigating liver ischemia/reperfusion injury, NMP exerts a renoprotective effect on kidney allografts. This study compares renal outcomes in SLK transplant recipients receiving NMP versus static cold storage (SCS) livers.

Effect of Donor-recipient Size on Graft Growth in Pediatric Donor-to-pediatric Recipient Kidney Transplantation

Kidney transplantation is the optimal treatment for pediatric end-stage kidney disease, yet donor shortages have driven the use of pediatric donor kidneys through pediatric donor-to-pediatric recipient (PTP) kidney transplantation. This study aimed to investigate the effect of donor-recipient size on graft growth in PTP kidney transplantation.

International Symposium on Organ Donation and Transplantation

We are honored to announce the successful completion of the International Symposium on Organ Donation and Transplantation in Kyrgyzstan, held on May 22, 2026, at the Sheraton Hotel Bishkek. The symposium was primarily organized under the leadership of Başkent University in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, with the support of the Turkic World Transplantation Society (TDTD) and Başkent University Tourism Organization Agency (BUTO).

Women in Transplantation Indigenous Research Grant

The deadline to submit is
Sunday May 31st, 2026.

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WIT has extended the deadline for its Research Projects in Gender and Sex and SOT amongst Indigenous Populations grant. The applicant must be a clinician, health policy administrator, anthropologists, social scientist, clinical and/or basic science researcher in solid organ transplantation or donation, (and/or Indigenous health relating to solid organ transplant).