Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Transplant Experts Highlight Research Breakthroughs at National Meeting

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For Immediate Release

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Transplant Experts Highlight Research Breakthroughs at National Meeting

Children’s researchers at forefront of efforts to predict/prevent rejection and tailor medications

Pittsburgh, Pa. - May 4, 2007 -

Several transplant leaders from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC will play prominent roles and present results of their clinical research at the 2007 American Transplant Congress (ATC).

Steven A. Webber, MBChB, chief of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at Children’s, is a member of the ATC Executive Committee and co-chair of the congress’ program committee. He also is the medical director of the Cardiopulmonary Transplant Program in the Hillman Center for Pediatric Transplantation at Children’s and a professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

The congress will be held Saturday, May 5 to Wednesday, May 9, 2007, in San Francisco. It is organized by the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the American Society of Transplantation.

At the congress, Dr. Webber also will co-chair two sessions titled “Pediatric Transplantation – The Later Years” and “Tailoring Immunosuppression to the Individual Patient.” “Children’s strong presence this year and every year at the American Transplant Congress is a testament to the leading role we have in pediatric transplantation and the research breakthroughs we continue to achieve,” Dr. Webber said. “By sharing our insights with colleagues from around the country, we can continue to improve upon our immunosuppressive therapy research to prevent rejection and improve our patients’ quality of life.”

Ron Shapiro, MD, director of the Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program at the Hillman Center for Pediatric Transplantation and the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, will co-chair a pre-meeting symposium titled “Clinical Updates: Management of Complications that Affect Outcomes.” He also will make an invited presentation on the management of infection in kidney transplant patients and two oral presentations.

In all, more than a dozen transplant physicians, surgeons and nurse practitioners from Children’s cardiopulmonary, liver and intestine, and kidney transplant programs will make presentations of their clinical research at the congress. Much of it will focus on efforts to tailor immunosuppressive therapy to individual patients to prevent rejection and to wean patients from immunosuppressive medications when appropriate.

Other Children’s surgeons presenting at the conference include:

Editor’s Note:

Learn more about the research being presented at the 2007 American Transplant Congress.
Learn more about the Hillman Center for Pediatric Transplantation at Children’s.

All of Children’s physicians will be available for interviews through Friday, May 4, 2007.

Contacts:

Marc Lukasiak, 412-692-7919 or 412-692-5016, Marc.Lukasiak@chp.edu
Melanie Finnigan, 412-692-5502 or 412-692-5016, Melanie.Finnigan@chp.edu

Last Update
September 20, 2012

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