Thanks to generous and dedicated support from the Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital in Italy, the St. John’s Medical College and Hospital in India has now graduated from the ISN-TTS Sister Transplant Centers (STC) Program after completing a fulfilling six-year journey.
The long-term goals of the collaboration were to optimize transplant outcomes and develop a sustainable pediatric renal transplant program in a low-resource setting. These expectations were met and surpassed as the supporting center worked alongside the emerging center to identify and overcome gaps.
The team at the emerging center in India grew in skills and human resources as younger pediatric nephrologists were trained and additional staff recruited to create a multidisciplinary transplant team: two trained transplant coordinators, a dedicated pediatric hemodialysis technician, dietician, and peritoneal dialysis and transplant nurses.