Conference: 15th Annual Transplantation Scientific Symposium, May 24-26, 2017, Victoria, BC
Conference Highlight: The Transplant Science Symposium (TSS) was an opportunity to learn about many recent developments in transplantation science including innate immunity, T regulatory cells, sex-gender issues in transplantation research and regenerative medicine.
Conference Article: At the conference, innate immunity and its impact on alloimmune, stem cell engineering, the microbiome and metabolism and big data science were discussed in great detail by researchers from all over the world.
I found the presentations on the effects of aging on immunity and immunometabolism particularly fascinating. A couple of these used skin transplantation models to demonstrate that the recipient bone marrow influences transplant outcome and alters the vigor with which antigen presenting cells stimulate the alloimmune response. One study demonstrated that older recipients show low acute rejection incidence whereas older donors tend to increase the acute rejection rate. These findings are relevant to clinical transplantation.
Another major highlight at the conference was a documentary presentation by Dr. Noibe Thompson entitled, “The Nature of Things: Vital Bonds”, which followed the events leading up to and following an actual organ transplantation. It revealed the profound emotions experienced by patients and their families and showcased some of the transformational research that is being done to improve organ transplantation outcomes.