AASLD Clinical Research Single Topic Conference: Pediatric Liver Transplantation
Dates: March 18 & 19, 2011
Location: Atlanta, GA
Endorsed by the AGA Institute
Overview:
Pediatric liver transplant candidates and recipients are distinct from their adult counterparts not only with respect to age, but also with respect to primary disease, immunobiology, risk of disease recurrence, sociobiology, potential for life years gained and length of exposure to immunosuppressive medications. Given that our current knowledge dictates lifelong treatment with immunosuppressive medications, long-term clinical outcomes reflect, in large part, complications due to excess immunosuppression, inadequate immunosuppression, and non-immune complications. While the risk is substantial for both children and adults, the potential impact of such complications on a child may be even more significant, in part because children may live long enough to develop significant end organ damage.
This conference will include an overview of long-term outcomes as a function of the age, developmental status and phase of care for pediatric liver transplant recipients with specific attention directed towards immunobiology as it relates to tolerance, and the management and monitoring of immunosuppression. Participants will examine the current status of basic and clinical research and address gaps in knowledge in areas critical to the outcomes for pediatric liver transplant recipients.
Goals and Objectives
Upon completion of this conference, participants will better understand:
- The short-term and long-term outcomes and the challenges for pediatric liver transplant recipients.
- The immunobiology of the liver and how it relates to immune monitoring, biomarkers for immune function and operational tolerance in pediatric liver transplant recipients.
- The pathobiology and treatment of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease in specific, but also, as a model of altered immune responses of immunosuppressed patients in response to common environmental antigens.
Target Audience
The target audience includes clinical and basic science researchers in the field of transplant immunology and liver transplantation as well as transplant hepatologists, pediatric gastroenterologists, transplant surgeons, allied health care professionals, patients and families, and pharmaceutical representatives interested in the current status of research and treatment of pediatric liver transplant recipients
View program.
Course Directors
Sandy Feng, MD, PhD
John C. Bucuvalas, MD
More Information:
AASLD is handling registration for this meeting. Visit the conference web page for more information and to register.
