Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Transplant News”
Dr. Amy Waterman had her first introduction to TED at TED2016: Dream in Vancouver, Canada. The experience was transformational for her and she decided to take her work in transplant to a large scale, educating as many patients and living donors as possible. Since then, she has gone on to serve as a mentor in the TED Fellows program, which provides individualized feedback, guidance, skills training, and support to Fellows by matching them with a …
For Professionals in Nephrology, Dialysis, and Transplant: A discussion of CMS ESRD QIP changes that could impact your funding and the Toolkit that will help you be ready CMS requires dialysis centers to increase patients wait-listed for transplant Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that, as part of its ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) starting January 1, 2020, dialysis facilities will be required to report their Percentage of Prevalent …
Some of our earliest memories are of hearing stories read to us by our parents – fairy tales, fables, adventures, and epic journeys. Storytelling is an innate and universal part of the human experience. Stories help us make sense of our lives, mark important occasions, and share and connect with the people who matter to us. From founding myths like the tale of Romulus and Remus to true accounts of heroism, or even casual stories …
We are pleased to share the following contribution, from our partner Catina O’Leary, PhD, Health Literacy Media president and CEO. The game of chess starts with the opener – a set of moves that, to the untrained eye, might seem mundane and inconsequential. To the expert, though, the opener is an essential strategic step. A well-chosen set of opening moves can ensure victory, while the wrong ones can cost a player the game. Indeed, any …
As we approach the year’s end, rushing to meet deadlines and making time for family and friends, I can’t help but pause and take stock in all that we at TREC have accomplished this year. Together with our partners, we’ve published a dozen new papers and abstracts, presented at the American Transplant Conference and The Transplantation Society’s 2018 International Congress and the American Public Health Association’s 2018 Annual Meeting & Expo, launched four new studies …
November 7, 2018, just three weeks ago. It was College Country Night at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, when a gunman killed 12 patrons and himself. The Borderline Bar & Grill is in easy driving distance of the UCLA Transplant Center, and this shooting felt close to home. The killings in Thousand Oaks are among the 13,000 gun-related deaths recorded as of November 21 of this year (excluding suicides) by the Gun Violence …
It’s one of the frustrations of the kidney shortage that many people want to donate a kidney to a loved one but can’t, because their blood type is not compatible with their intended recipient. If they donated, their kidney would be rejected. In the past, living donors who did not match their recipients simply couldn’t donate at all. The failure to realize those donations was – and is – a true loss of potential kidneys …
A few days ago, we celebrated a win for everyone affected by kidney disease as one of the uncertainties facing living kidney donors was erased. In response to Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler’s (R-WA) amendment of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the U.S. Labor Department issued a legal opinion stating its agreement that kidney donation qualifies as a “serious health condition.” The August 28 opinion’s introductory words are as follows: “This letter responds to your …
One of the ways we at the Transplant Research and Education Center serve kidney patients is through Explore Transplant, a multi-level consortium of the leading experts in transplant, and a key partner in this endeavor is Health Literacy Media (HLM). In order to get the educational tools we have developed to the people who need it most – the patients – HLM does in-person trainings and workshops with dialysis providers and other professionals caring for …
We are very excited that TREC’s visionary director, Dr. Amy Waterman, is profiled on The M Dash: Live with purpose, MM.Lafleur’s blog celebrating strong women who make a difference. MM.LaFleur designs wardrobes for women who need to look great in public appearances and behind the scenes but don’t have the time to do a lot of shopping – which fits our director to a T. Dr. Waterman’s profile in MM.LaFleur’s “Women of the Week” column …
Did you hear? Explore Transplant and Explore Living Donation education has been fully revised with evidence-based health literate best practices, and it’s now ready for purchase! These programs, available in English and Spanish, have helped tens of thousands of kidney patients and their loved ones make informed choices about treatment. Health Literacy Media worked with Dr. Amy Waterman to revise her gold standard kidney transplant education programs with a health literacy lens to bring impactful, …
When someone’s kidneys fail, a transplant may be their best treatment option. Unfortunately, there are not enough kidneys for the almost 100,000 people who are waiting for a kidney in the United States today. The mission of the United Network of Organ Sharing is to reduce the organ donor shortage and ensure equal access to transplants for all Americans. Living donor kidney transplant (LDKT), where a friend or a family member donates a kidney to …
You’ve watched it unfold on television or the big screen. A doctor, racing against time, removes a kidney and places it into a cooler, and an assistant runs it to a waiting helicopter. It’s flown to another hospital, and is placed into the waiting patient with seconds to spare. In real life, kidneys are often shipped many miles to complete a kidney paired donation (KPD), where a patient who needs a new kidney is matched with …
In this short video, Explore Transplant’s Christina Goalby, MSW and HLM’s Director of Partnerships and Initiatives Allen Todd discuss educational opportunities available to the transplant community. These include Explore Transplant and Explore Living Donation educational materials and trainings to educate dialysis providers about kidney transplant and living donation.
Where should a kidney patient or potential living donor go online to get comprehensive information about transplant and living donation? How do they know that the information available online can be trusted to be accurate and unbiased? In June 2016, nationally recognized transplant and kidney disease education experts were invited to take part in President Obama’s Organ Donation Summit to improve outcomes for individuals waiting for organ transplants and enhance support for living donors. One …
This October, as the fall leaves changed colors, Dr. Amy Waterman flew to Toronto to represent UCLA, Explore Transplant, and Health Literacy Media at the launch of a provincial initiative to increase the rates of living donor kidney transplants in Ontario. Explore Transplant Ontario is one of the interventions being championed for use within the Access to Kidney Transplantation and Living Donation Strategy, an initiative being sponsored by the Ontario Renal Network (ORN) and the …
An article recently published in Transplantation1 describes the new kidney voucher program, which allows potential kidney donors to donate at a time that works for them, while “reserving” a priority spot on the kidney transplant waitlist for a patient, often a loved one, to be redeemed later. Drs. Jeffrey L. Veale and Amy D. Waterman, both professors at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), are authors on this article. In the voucher program, a donor …
The Terasaki Research Institute (TRI)’s recent Grand Opening celebration, honoring the research and legacy of Dr. Paul Terasaki, was an exciting opportunity to introduce some of the many innovative projects going on at the Institute. The creative workforce behind these projects was present as well, as guests had the opportunity to engage with the group of scientists, researchers, and individuals collaborating together to change the world of transplantation. In addition to the TRI team, the …
“We all need inspiration about what is good in this world.” It was only fitting that Dr. Amy D. Waterman made this statement during the Grand Opening celebration of the Terasaki Research Institute (TRI) on September 10, 2017; honoring the day that would have been Dr. Paul Terasaki’s 88th birthday. Dr. Terasaki gave us inspiration on how to do good in this world, and it is our mission at the Transplant Research and Education Center …
Friends and colleagues, I cannot help but feel lucky and grateful that 2017 has brought fresh and exciting new opportunities. In that spirit and effective immediately, I’m thrilled to announce that my research lab, the Transplant Research and Education Center (TREC), is expanding its research and education portfolio. Currently, TREC is an interdisciplinary research and education team that conducts state of the art clinical research to understand and improve important issues affecting transplant outcomes, intervenes …