Strategic Plan

Timeless Core Ideology

Core Ideology describes an organization’s consistent identity that transcends all changes related to its relevant environment. Core ideology consists of two elements: Core Purpose – the organization’s reason for being –and Core Values – essential and enduring principles that guide the behavior of an organization.

Mission Statement:

The American Society of Transplantation is a diverse organization dedicated to advancing the field of transplantation and improving patient care by promoting research, education, advocacy, organ donation, and service to the community through a lens of equity and inclusion.

Core Purpose:

Improving human life by advancing the field of transplantation

Core Values:

The principles that guide the AST’s internal conduct and its relationship with the external world.

• Patient-centered
• Inclusive and responsive
• Transformative
• Global perspective
• Absolute integrity
• Knowledge sharing

AST 1-3 Year Strategic Plan - Overview

To fulfill our commitment to our mission statement, our strategic plan has been broken into categories to reflect each pillar. Items within each category were carefully considered to ensure that the AST has the capacity and budget needed for execution.

Advocacy

The AST’s advocacy plan includes increasing collaboration with other professional societies, engaging groups outside of our core transplant community, and incorporating patient voices into our advocacy efforts. Our strategic plan prioritizes the following key legislative issues:

• Reintroduction and passage of the Immuno Bill

• Continued opposition to The Dialysis PATIENTS Demonstration Act, as it was introduced in 2018

• Ongoing support for the Living Donor Protection Act

• Ongoing support for financial neutrality for living donors

Our advocacy plan includes grassroots opportunities for both professional AST members, the patient community, and the general public. This process will be streamlined with the addition of new software that will be added to the AST website.

The plan also includes additional visits to Capitol Hill with both professional members and representatives from the transplant community.

In addition, this plan will allow transplant professionals to have a voice on critical regulatory issues and projects including:

• Organ-specific drug coverages (e.g., six protected classes)

• Orphan drug status

• Continued attention to drug access/patient education before discharge
• Continued work on appropriate metrics in transplant
• Continued refinement of the evaluation and response to OPTN/UNOS public comment proposals

Research

Research remains a priority for the AST, with a focus on funding research that is innovative and unique.

The AST transitioned its TIRN (Transplant and Immunology Research Network) program to the AST Research Network in 2018 to streamline branding and reflect inclusivity in funding the needs in our community. To enhance our commitment to funding transplant research, the AST will advocate for a transplant-specific study section through the NIH.

We are also working to educate members and the public about the critical need for research funding in the area of transplantation.

Education

The Society continues to produce its annual meetings and popular educational resources such as Transplant in 10, Journal Clubs, webinars, and Comprehensive Trainee Curriculum (CTC). As part of our strategic plan, we also wish to develop best practice guidelines for the care of recipients and donors. This will include re-establishing the Guidelines Committee for oversight in this area and exploring partnerships.

Organ Donation

Solid-organ transplantation relies on efforts to optimize organ donation. To support this mission, we plan to promote clinical trials in donor research, continue partnerships with other stakeholder organizations, and update the Live Donor Toolkit.

Service to the Community

In 2018, the AST Board of Directors added a fifth pillar to the Society’s mission statement: Service to the Community.  The AST will focus on patient education through its Power2Save initiative and is working to on adding educational resources.