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Every two years, TTS reviews the membership in its Committees to ensure that they are representative of the overall TTS membership.

The role of the Committees within TTS are extremely important to ensure the ongoing development of our Society and make certain that it continues to meet the needs to our membership. As such, it is important that we have a good representation on each committee to address the varied needs of our membership, whether from a geographic, gender or role perspective.

In reviewed the composition of our Committees, we find that the vast majority have good, balanced representation. However, some Committees would benefit from increased diversity, particularly from a geographic standpoint. As such, we are seeking self-nominations to participate in the following Committees: Heart and Lung Committee, Membership Committee and Young Members Committee

Though we have identified needs for additional geographic representation based on the above criteria, we welcome any self-nominations. The Committee Chairs will review the self-nominations to ensure a complete and balanced Committee.

The only expectation of nominees is that they actively participate in committee activities and lead the work of their committee within their respective regions.

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The IPTA Nominations Committee is seeking qualified candidates to be considered for open Councilor and Officer positions beginning in May 2021.

All applications will be reviewed by the IPTA Nominations Committee, who will present a final slate of candidate officers and councilors to the IPTA membership for the 2021 election.

The IPTA Nominations Committee welcomes nominations and applications from anyone who has been an IPTA member in good standing for at least 1 year. Service to IPTA on committees or special activities relevant to the society is an asset.

The deadline for online submission of applications is November 30, 2020.

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A number of transplant organizations from around the world continue their partnership to create a fourth educational webinar for the organ donation and transplantation communities. Our goal is to share experiences to date and respond to your questions about the impact of COVID-19 on organ donation and transplantation.

Talks will include:

• What happened to transplantation during the COVID-19 Pandemic?
• U.S. Experience (David Klassen, MD, UNOS)
• European Experience (John Forsythe, National Blood Service, Transplant, UK)
• What happened to the waitlist and outcomes during the pandemic?
• U.S. Experience (Lloyd Ratner, MD, ASTS, AST)
• European Experience (Patrizia Burra, MD PhD, ESOT)
• Impact of COVID-19 on the Workforce: The Challenges of Burnout
• The Current and Future State of Transplantation during the Pandemic
• Strategies for doing COVID care and non COVID care simultaneously (Atul Humar, MD CST, AST)
• Testing strategies and time-based clearance for those with history of COVID, including those awaiting transplant and in need of treatment for other medical issues, including rejection
• Therapeutics for SARS-CoV-2 infection in transplant candidates and recipients (Michael Ison, MD, AST, TTS)
• What is the future of vaccination, including for transplant candidates and recipients?

Special Thanks To:

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Young Member's Committee Chair, Shaifali Sandal interviewed Elmi Muller and Dorry Segev where she asked questions relevant to those new to the transplant community.

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Dr. Jeremy R. Chapman, Editor-in-Chief, Transplantation

Kidney Transplantation in Systemic Amyloidosis

Angel-Korman A, Havasi A
Transplantation: October 2020 - Volume 104 - Issue 10 - p 2035-2047

Systemic amyloidosis is a complex set of diseases linked through the impact that amyloid deposition has in the tissues of the body and especially the kidney. A variety of treatments have impacted survival positively and thus led to the option of transplantation for such patients. These are challenging patients to transplant, but with a careful multidisciplinary team it is possible to achieve good results. This review provides an excellent summary of the approaches currently available.

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TIPS AND TRICKS FOR VIRTUAL CARE IN PEDIATRIC TRANSPLANT

The COVID -19 pandemic has been a time of rapid and unprecedented change in the provision of clinical care.   Both health care professionals and the transplant families we provide care for have had to adjust to this change at a monumental pace. 

This session is meant to highlight some of the adaptations made by various members of our transplant allied health and nursing professional community whose practice has traditionally relied upon in-person assessment and intervention.

The session will have presentations from the following professionals from across the globe:

• Clinical Psychologists
• Physiotherapist
• Physician Assistant
• Child Life Specialist

Objectives:

1. Develop a greater understanding of varying allied health and nursing clinical practice adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic
2. Review the learned pros and cons of virtual practice and adaptations made
3. Discuss potential longer term practice changes that have evolved as a result of the pandemic

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Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Test Results Among Patients Who Recovered From COVID-19 With Prior Negative Results

Flora Marzia Lotti et al.
JAMA Intern Med. Published online November 12, 2020.doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.7570

This article studied 176 recovered patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the postacute outpatient service of our institution (Rome, Italy) from April 21 to June 18, 2020, for COVID-19 follow-up Nasal/oropharyngeal swab samples from patients at follow-up were analyzed for total (genomic) and replicative (subgenomic) SARS-CoV-2 RNA using RT-PCR assays. 32 of 176 NOS samples (18.2%) tested positive for total SARS-CoV-2 RNA, with viral loads ranging from 1.6 × 101 to 1.3 × 104 SARS-CoV-2 RNA copies per mL. One of the 32 samples (3.1%) had replicative SARS-CoV-2 RNA. All but 1 of 32 patients had a positive serology result against SARS-CoV-2 as well as 139 of remaining 144 patients at COVID-19 follow-u. In summary, 18% of patients with COVID-19 became RT-PCR positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA after clinical recovery and previous negative results. As positivity in the patients was suggestive, but not necessarily a reflection, of viral carriage, the authors used replicative SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection as a proxy for virus replication in culture. Only 1 of 32 patients retesting positive had replicating virus in the NOS sample, suggesting either recurrent infection or reinfection, which is impossible to separate because no whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analyses were performed.

Characterization of pre-existing and induced SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8 + T cells

Isabel Schulien et al.
Nat Med. 2020 Nov 12. doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-01143-2.

This study defines a set of optimal and dominant SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cell epitopes and performs a high-resolution ex vivo analysis of pre-existing and induced SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cells, applying peptide-loaded major histocompatibility complex class I (pMHCI) tetramer technology. The authors observe rapid induction, prolonged contraction and emergence of heterogeneous and functionally competent cross-reactive and induced memory CD8+ T cell responses in cross-sectionally analyzed individuals with mild disease following SARS-CoV-2 infection and individuals longitudinally assessed for their T cells pre- and post-SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2-specific memory CD8+ T cells exhibited functional characteristics comparable to influenza-specific CD8+ T cells and were detectable in SARS-CoV-2 convalescent individuals who were seronegative for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies targeting spike (S) and nucleoprotein (N). These results define cross-reactive and induced SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cell responses as potentially important determinants of immune protection in mild SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Organ recovery from deceased donors with prior COVID-19: a case series

Nikole Neidlinger et al.
Transpl Inf Dis. 2020 Nov 10;e13503. doi: 10.1111/tid.13503.

Although guidance documents have been published regarding organ donation from individuals with a prior history of COVID-19 infection, no data exist regarding successful recovery and transplantation from deceased donors with a history of or positive testing suggesting a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here the authors report a case series of six deceased donors with a history of COVID-19 from whom 13 organs were recovered and transplanted though several of the nation's organ procurement organizations (OPOs). In addition, at least two potential donors were authorized for donation but with no organs were successfully allocated and did not proceed to recovery. No transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was reported from the six donors to recipients, procurement teams, or hospital personnel. Although more studies are needed, organ donation from deceased donors who have recovered from COVID-19 should be considered.

Nov. 9 - Recipients of a transplant kidney from a living donor are more likely to remain dialysis free with functioning allografts for longer durations compared with recipients of a kidney from a deceased donor.

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Nov. 12 - Screening for asymptomatic coronary artery disease prior to kidney transplantation aims to reduce peri- and post-operative cardiac events. It is uncertain if this is achieved. Here, we investigated whether pre-transplant screening with a stress test or coronary angiogram associated with any difference in major adverse cardiac events (MACE) up to five years post-transplantation.

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Nov. 11 - The lab of Matthias Lütolf at the School of Life Sciences has successfully produced a mouse heart organoid in its early embryonic stages. The project was led by Giuliana Rossi, a post-doctoral researcher from Lütolf's laboratory, and published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

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Nov. 13 - A bone marrow transplant may be particularly useful for those with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) who, despite treatment with high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), continue to experience relapses or show signs of new lesions, experts say. According to new recommendations from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, those under 50 who were diagnosed with MS within the last 10 years are likely the best candidates for the procedure.

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