Improving Transplant Equity by Bioengineering Organs for Transplants

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Could bioengineering organs for human organ transplants improve transplant equity and address the ongoing organ shortage?

May 01, 2023 – In a recent press release, CareDx Inc., based in Brisbane, CA, and Miromatrix Medical Inc., based in Eden Prairie, MN, announced a collaboration focused on researching bioengineered organs for human organ transplants. Tissue and organ bioengineering has been conceptualized for years, with many implications in improving transplant equity and addressing the shortage of organ donors. As researchers take steps closer to whole organ transplantation in humans, it is critical to understand the science behind bioengineering and how to minimize patient risk. Read more in Life Sciences Intelligence.

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Skin Cancer After an Organ Transplant: Risks, Prevention and Treatment

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As a transplant recipient, you seek to protect your health in many ways, including taking immunosuppressant medications. By preventing your immune system from rejecting your new organ, these therapies play a critical role in your care. But they also come with side effects, including an increased risk for skin cancer.

Fortunately, you can work with your doctors to prevent skin cancer or detect it early, when it’s most treatable. Read the full article on CareDx.com.

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Assessing the Suitability of Donor Lungs for Transplantation Based on Recipient Factors

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The following is a summary of the “Assessing donor organ quality according to recipient characteristics in lung transplantation,” published in the February 2023 issue of Thoracic and cardiovascular surgery by Wadowski, et al.


While overall donor organ utilization remains low, there is a severe shortage of donor lungs concerning need. Organ quality is the most common reason for rejection, but selection criteria can vary. Read more in Physician’s Weekly.

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Prior COVID-19 infection increases risk for incident diabetes by 17%

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By Michael Monostra

Adults who previously tested positive for COVID-19 have a higher risk for developing diabetes than those who did not test positive, according to findings published in JAMA Network Open.

“The study highlights the importance of medical professionals being mindful of the possible long-term consequences of COVID-19,” Naveed Zafar Janjua, MBBS, MSc, DrPH, executive director of data and analytic services at British Columbia Center for Disease Control, Provincial Health Services Authority; and clinical professor in the school of population and public health at University of British Columbia, told Healio. Read more in Healio.

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Who deserves a liver transplant?

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With deaths from alcohol-related disease on rise, some in the field are rethinking criteria that exclude patients from life-saving care

By Samantha Laine Perfas

During one of his first rotations as a medical student, John Messinger had a patient in his 40s with alcohol-related hepatitis. Because the patient had been treated for alcohol use disorder and relapsed, he was ineligible for a liver transplant. Messinger watched the patient deteriorate, knowing more could have been done to save his life. Read the full story in The Harvard Gazette.

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Looking Forward: Maximizing Efficiency From Electronic Health Records

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By Rebecca L. Forand

The transition to electronic health records from traditional paper charting was touted as a way to increase efficiency, billing and cataloging; however, for some, it has made practice overly burdened with notes and information.

For psoriatic disease specialists specifically, some question if these electronic resources could be revamped to do more and increase not only efficiency, but patient care as a whole.
Read the full story in Healio.

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WRNMMC’s kidney transplant program ranks as 5-star

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By Bernard S. Little

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is the only Department of Defense military medical treatment facility (MTF) that performs kidney transplants, and the Organ Transplant Service at WRNMMC has been rated as one of the top transplant programs in the nation. According to data published by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), which supports the transplant community with analyses to better patient experiences and outcomes, WRNMMC’s Organ Transplant Service is ranked in the top tier of all U.S. transplant programs and has a 97 percent one-year patient and graft survival rate. Read more in the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS).

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New preservation temperature extends the lifespan of donor organ outside the body

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Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.

Storing donor lungs for transplant at 10 degrees Celsius markedly increases the length of time the organ can live outside the body according to research led by a team of scientists at the Toronto Lung Transplant Program in the Ajmera Transplant Centre at the University Health Network (UHN).

The prospective multicenter, nonrandomized clinical trial study of 70 patients demonstrated that donor lungs remained healthy and viable for transplant up to four times longer compared to storage at the current standard of ice cooler preservation of around 4 degrees Celsius. Read more in News Medical Life Sciences.

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3 ways to save more lives with organ transplants: Mayo Clinic

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By Ashleigh Hollowell

Seventeen people die per day awaiting organ transplants and top health systems and hospitals like Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic continue to seek ways to improve outcomes for the 104,000 patients on organ transplant waiting lists in the U.S.

Even though 2022 was the 12th consecutive year on record for deceased organ donations, one of the persistent challenges is the lack of viable donated organs, according to an April 5 news release from Mayo Clinic. However, experts say medical advances are working to solve challenges like this — one of which includes expanding the pool of transplant donations.
Read more in Becker’s Hospital Review.

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Senate bill would cap monthly insulin costs at $35 for Americans with commercial insurance

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A bill proposed in the U.S Senate would limit out-of-pocket insulin costs for Americans with diabetes who have commercial health insurance, according to a press release.

On April 20, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Improving Needed Safeguards for Users of Lifesaving Insulin Now (INSULIN) Act of 2023. Read the full story in Healio.

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