Welcome to the fall edition of CHEST Transplant NetWork News. By now, most of the country is enduring a fourth surge of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Our health care system, and particularly our critical care capabilities, is being strained like never before. After a brief reduction in lung transplant volumes early in the pandemic, numbers have rebounded to near-record levels. As of July 31, the US is on pace for 2,700 transplants in 2021. The continued rise in organ donors from opioid overdose deaths, also related to the pandemic, has helped support organ transplant volumes.
Our NetWork aims to promote education and advancement in transplantation medicine to health care providers and patients by identifying clinical problems in this subspecialty and addressing the dissemination of information. We also provide a forum to share ideas, concerns, and support each other during these stressful times.
Please join the discussion on Twitter and participate in our steering committee meetings, which are open to all members. The NetWork is always seeking proposals for editorials or projects that leverage the membership and address emerging topics in the field.
Reda Girgis, MD, FCCP Chair, Transplant NetWork
NetWorkCHEST Physician article
Check out our NetWork’s latest article “The rise in lung transplant for older patients,” by steering committee members Melissa Lesko, DO, FCCP, and Grant Turner, MD, MHA, in the latest CHEST Physician® issue.
In this piece, Drs. Lesko and Turner succinctly review the latest publications on transplanting older candidates, a trend that will undoubtedly continue as we encounter more such patients with fibrotic lung disease.
Upcoming NetWork calls
As a NetWork member, you're welcome to join your NetWork Steering Committee calls. If interested in joining an upcoming call, please contact Maggie Kosinski at mkosinski@chestnet.org, and she will be happy to share access information.
Save the date! This year, the CHEST 2021 Transplant NetWork Featured Lecture & Open Forum will take place prior to the meeting in October, and is open to everyone. Register for Dr. Mary Armanios’s presentation, “Telomeres and Telomerase: Implications for Lung Transplantation,” Monday, October 4, at 1 pm CT.
Dr. Armanios was part of the research team of Dr. Carol Greider at Johns Hopkins, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase. She subsequently was the first to describe short telomere length in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and has published extensively on the potential impact of short telomeres after lung transplantation. Her highly anticipated presentation is timely, as the number of older candidates and recipients with continues to rise.
CHEST 2021 sessions
Join us for clinically relevant sessions at the fast-approaching CHEST 2021. Here are some sessions that may be of interest to you:
Sessions
Bugs in the Transplanted Lung
Nonpulmonary Complications of Lung Transplantation: What You Need to Know to Tell Your Patients!
How Can We Optimize Donors to Meet the Growing Demand for Lung Transplantation?
Role of Bronchoscopy in Lung Transplant Recipients: Focus on Specific Applications
Controversies In Candidate Selection for Cardiothoracic Transplantation
We hope to see you at CHEST 2021!
COVID-19 resources
Explore the COVID-19 Resource Center to find curated content to help you during the pandemic. Browse through clinical resources, access key research related to the management of patients with COVID-19, view recorded webinars, and more.
Sharpen your COVID-19 knowledge with the new CHEST Player Hub game, Defeat COVID-19, developed by the CHEST COVID-19 Task Force. Answer questions about COVID-19 symptoms, diagnosis, and management to score power-ups on the game board and advance your score.
The Transplant NetWork recently submitted a proposal to the CHEST Education Committee entitled “Training Opportunities and Career Planning in Transplant Pulmonology.” With the rapid growth of lung transplantation in recent years, there is an unmet need for the dissemination of information on career development for fellows and young faculty in this increasingly complex subspecialty. Look for upcoming news on timing and content. We are looking for input on topics for discussion. Please join us!
Purchase the new, on-demand Thoracic Radiology: Imaging for Clinicians course to earn the basics of thoracic imaging and airway diseases by reviewing unique cases with expert faculty. This course is designed to help you take your thoracic imaging skills to the next level, so you excel in complex ICU situations.
In-person simulation courses are back, and seats are filling fast. The all-new course format for 2021 ensures your safety while offering you valuable hands-on, interactive training with experts. Explore the full course schedule to find more courses like these ones:
The journal CHEST® is accepting applications for Early Career Editorial Board Members. This is a 12-month mentorship with the journal CHEST Editorial Board. Accelerate your professional career with this opportunity to learn about the scholarly publishing landscape, review manuscripts, make recommendations for final decisions on manuscripts, and more. Apply before the deadline, Friday, October 1.