On February 8-10, the AST held its 6th Cutting Edge of Transplantation (CEoT) meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. Nearly 400 transplant professionals, legislators, and government agencies came together for a lively discussion about the regulatory barriers in transplantation. This meeting brought together the key players to examine internal and external barriers that have impeded the much-needed progress and innovation in our field.

We kicked off the meeting with a “Shark Tank” type of session on the pros and cons of xenotransplantation. Although I am a proponent of xenotransplantation, I...

On December 20, 2017, we said goodbye to Terry Strom, a brilliant member of the transplant community and the first past-president of the American Society of Transplant Physicians (predecessor of the AST).  Like so many of you reading this post, I considered Terry a personal friend for many years and enjoyed his endless zeal, insights, and candid (and refreshingly non-politically correct) approach to life.  He leaves a large void in our field that is not easily measured.

Dr. Strom was the recipient of the AST’s Lifetime Achievement Award, our Society’s highest honor. He touched so...

On October 23-24, 2017, the AST held its inaugural Transplant Patient Summit in Washington, DC. We welcomed over 100 patients to this meeting, which gave us the opportunity to hear stories and gain a new perspective – the patient perspective.

I recently wrote a blog about this event, highlighting the sessions and outcomes. However, this meeting was not just for the AST but rather extended our reach to reach our patient community. Therefore, I invited TPS attendee, Amy Silverstein, to write a guest blog post about her experience.  Her words convey more than anything I could...

As you probably know, much is happening regarding liver allocation policy. The transplant community is at a crossroads with the OPTN/UNOS Liver and Intestinal Organ Allocation Committee’s recently released public comment proposal on enhancing liver allocation. I encourage all AST members to carefully review and comment on this proposal.

After carefully considering all the feedback received during the August 2016 public comment period that addressed geographic disparities in access to liver transplantation, the committee spent time considering potential alternative solutions and...