Save the Date: 4th Midwest Transplant & Nephrology Symposium – October 11-13, 2019

Washington University Division of Nephrology announces the fourth Midwest Transplant & Nephrology Symposium to be held on October 11 – 13, 2019 at the Institute of Public Health, St. Louis, MO.

The popular symposium will present an in-depth review of the most clinically-encountered topics in transplantation and provide hands-on workshops to allow participants to build important technical skills.

Designed for health care professionals including physicians in training, pharmacists, transplant coordinators, surgical assistants, nurses, and nephrologists who are interested in learning more about kidney transplantation, the symposium provides a unique opportunity to interact closely with leaders in the transplant field.

Assistant Professor of Medicine Tarek Alhamad, MD, MS, Medical Director of Transplant Nephrology, is the symposium and course chair and has been a driving force behind the symposium since it was first held in 2015.  Dr. Alhamad is the Medical Director of The Pancreas and Kidney Transplant programs and is currently a Committee Member-at-Large on the Kidney Pancreas Community of Practice (KPCOP) Executive Committee.  Members of the KPCOP Executive Committee advise the American Society of Transplantation Board of Directors on its goal of promoting research, education, advocacy, and kidney and pancreas organ donation.

“This will be the first and only transplant symposium in the US that provides workshops in HLA, transplant pathology, and ultrasound along with the transplant lectures,” says Alhamad.  “It is also unique in that we have actual recipients and donors to present their experience.”

The CME-accredited symposium will feature more than ten invited speakers, and travel awards will be given to ten fellows to attend the symposium.

Preliminary Itinerary:

  • Oct 11 – Ultrasound workshop that features examination of the heart, lung, and inferior vena cava volume assessment, as well as ultrasound-guided line placement for vascular access and renal biopsy.
  • Oct 12 – Transplant lectures by speakers from across the United States
  • Oct 13 – morning: HLA workshop
  • Oct 13 – afternoon: Pathology workshop led by Joseph Gaut, MD, PhD, Associate   Professor, Pathology & Immunology, Washington University

Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital Transplant Center specialists are pioneers in the field of kidney and pancreas transplants and oversee one of the largest – and oldest – kidney transplant programs in the United States.  The center recently performed its 10,000th adult solid organ transplant (that of a kidney) in the past 56 years.  The kidney transplant program reached its own milestone in 2018, performing more than 5,000 kidney transplants.

The Midwest Transplant Symposium’s full itinerary will be posted in the coming months.

Until then, please follow Dr. Alhamad @TransplantPulse on Twitter and watch his recent interview with local news channel KMOV Channel 4 News as he debunks the myths about organ donations in honor of April being Donate Life Month.