Totally Transplant

Send us Fan MailDr. Samra sits down with Linda Ohler. Having had an illustrious career which started in the 1960s, and she doesnt show any sign of slowing down. Linda is currently working on another book. She is a nurse, a leader, an author, a mentor and a life long learner and educator. She discusses how she has dedicated her life to Transplantation, and it will always be a part of her identity. Starting as a nurse coordinator in heart transplantation, to becoming an author and educator starting with writing a book called Transplantation nursing secrets followed by the core curriculum for bedside nurses. She has lectured nationally and internationally in 10 countries. She shares what ISHLT(International society of heart and lung transplant), NATCO (North american transplant coorindators organization) and AST(american society of transplantation) are. Groups like this have really helped transplant professionals learn form one another In 1971 there was a life magazine article that showed 7 heart transplanta patients die and it was in the 1980s that we began to get better immunsouporewison , liek cyclosporine. The evolution of the multisdisciplinary team. She is now writing a book about >200 transplant professionals and looking at the evolution of each organ system in transplant. They talk about who a donor is, brain death and circulatory death and the laws around this. They talk about donor care units where brain death patients may need further work up before donation is consented to and alloccated it. They are staffed by ICU clinicians that could be from the hospital or the OPO (organ procurement organizations). The US non- profit organizations responsible for recovering organs for transplantation were established as a national network following the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984. When the National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) was signed into law in 1984 it created the National Organ Procurement and Transplant. They talk about the applications of AI in transplant and concerns such as accuracy and how important it is to keep the human in the loop. They talk about xenotransplantation being part of the future of Transplantation and past successes. At the conclusion, Linda states that patients should become familiar with the SRTR so that they know how the transplant programs they are being evaluated at, listed and transplanted at are performing. https://srtr.hrsa.gov/https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2360-7078Please note this is not medical advice. It is meant for entertainment purposes only. 

Send us Fan MailDr. Samra sits down with Dr. Niederhaus who is not only a Transplant Surgeon but a two time Kidney Transplant Recipient. She shares important tips with patients along with the most unique perspective from both sides of Transplantation, care delivery and care acceptance. https://www.umms.org/find-a-doctor/profiles/dr-silke-verena-niederhaus-md-1639127293Please note this is not medical advice. It is meant for entertainment purposes only. 

Send us Fan MailDr. Samra sits down with Dr. Danovitch. They talk about the importance of slowing the progression of chronic kidney disease by using medications such as SGLT2 i and GLP-1 RA.  They identify and recognize how hard it is to wait and the uncertainty of getting a transplant How dialysis is getting better even though it only provides you about 15-20% of your kidney function and allows patients to feel better. There are certain things that can preclude one from getting a transplant. Such as active cancer, infections. There are two types of transplants. Deceased donor and living donor. A living donor transplant can have huge advantages such as not ever starting dialysis, and getting a transplant sooner. It may be beneficial to be listed at multiple transplant centers. The number of years on dialysis is important. Living donation is the preferred avenue for kidney transplantation. 1)low wait time2)kidneys tend to function better and longer3)you get the transplant on a fixed day and can better prepare for itTraditionally, living donation came from close family member, parents, siblings etc. Can have friends, neighbors, from your religious place of gathering. The health of the donor is very important.  They undergo a very intense evaluation process to ensure that it is safe for them to be a donor. Its a beautiful gift to donate a kidney. Dr. Danovitch shares a endearing story of a donor. These days you don't you have to be a perfect match. There are ways for us to get around incompatibilites. Organ exchanges or organ chains are one such way. 1/3 of living donors done are done through such exchanges.Have an open mind towards those who want to donate a kidney to you. They ended the conversation with discussing kidney exchanges as a way to get around incompatibilites.https://www.ovid.com/jnls/transplantjournal/fulltext/10.1097/tp.0000000000004892~gabriel-m-danovitch-md-frcp-honhttps://www.livingdonortoolkit.com/Please note this is not medical advice. It is meant for entertainment purposes only. 

Send us Fan MailDr. Reddy shares his journey into the field of Transplantation including the mentors he met. He highlights his journey over the last 11 years to grow the Transplant team and the transplant program. His north star being patient care and educating his patients.https://www.ucihealth.org/clinicians/uttam-reddy-1487846481Please note this is not medical advice. It is meant for entertainment purposes only. 

Send us Fan MailDr. Samra sits down with Dr. Beje Thomas, the Medical Director of the Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation program at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedtert Hospital . They discuss, how the team at Froedtert has been able to grow the program by placing the patient at the center of their care while also utilizing the lens of entrepreneurship and business principles. They share some great anecdotal stories. Remembering that the journey to transplantation is not always a simple straight line. Sometimes there are can be multiple stops along the way. Its important to embrace them and to continue to self advocate for yourself.https://www.mcw.edu/find-a-doctor/thomas-beje-md. Please note this is not medical advice. It is meant for entertainment purposes only. 

Send us Fan MailDr. Samra sits down with Devin Holland, the Business Development Lead at UNOS,  the United Network of Organ Sharing. In their conversation they highlight the modernization of the OPTN(Organ Procurement and Transpantation Network and the future of UNOS.They also discuss the upcoming Transplant Management forum happenign in Atlanta, GA April 29 to May 1, 2026. https://unos.org/about/tmf/Please note this is not medical advice. It is meant for entertainment purposes only. 

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, our guest is Andrea Tietjen. She is the Assistant Vice President of Transplant Adminstrative Services. She has worked with this dynamic team since 1999. Hear about how she entered Transplant. https://www.rwjbh.org/cooperman-barnabas-medical-center/treatment-care/transplant-services/kidney-pancreas-transplant/our-team/administrative-leadership/ We discuss what changes have occurred in the Transplant space over the last 10- 15 years. We talk about how important ACCESS to Transplant Care is and what struck me about the leadership at their medical center, is how they are constantly trying to improve the care delivered to their patients. Please note this is not medical advice. It is meant for entertainment purposes only. 

Send us Fan MailDr. Payas Vasanth, a Transplant Nephrologist at Emory University, shares how her personal journey navigating chronic disease and how that has made her a better physician.She discussed how important Clinical informatics is in practicing Transplant Medicine and quality improvement that comes with it. She reviews various EHRs, Phoenix and other platforms. Please note this is not medical advice. It is meant for entertainment purposes only. 

Send us Fan MailEnjoy this converation between Dr. Basu and Dr. Samra. They discuss what ignited their interest in Transplant Nephrology and their path since. How much they enjoy practicing Transplant Nephrology and making a meaningful difference in patients lives. They then discuss Dr. Basu's focus on the vulnerable population. Pregnant women and the use of Belatacept 'bela'. The older adult population and access to transplant, avoiding arbitrary age cut-offs. The importance of utilizing race modification/race neutral formula. All these efforts have been to improve access to transplant for those populations that have historically been at a disadvantage. They then discuss an Adolescent to Adult Transition clinic that was started in concert with pediatric Transplant nephrologist, Dr. Roshan George. At age 18, transplanted patients start to visit the adult Kidney Transplant Clinic so as to start to feel comfortable and safe in this new space while remaiing under the Childrens Transplant Clinic umbrella. They continue this from age 18 to 21 such that by the age of 21 they are now familiar with the adult Transplant Clinic and have built a rapport with the adult Transplant Nephrology Team. Dr. Basu intentionally formed a multi-disciplinary team formed of social workers, physicians, transgender specialists. They identified unique challenges in this population and while addressing those, created a holistic, collaborative and personalized clinic. Improving compliance by utilizing telehealth in follow up visits being one such example. They then discuss Belatacept, a long term immunosuppressant that is un ique in that it is administered intravenously at 4-6 week intervals. At Emory, this is used as a primary immunosuppressant unless there is a contraindication. It has been shown to have better allograft and patient survival, cardiac outcomes and less post transplant diabetes mellitus when compared with calcineurin inhbitors as shown inthe BENEFIT trial. Belatacept cannot be used in those patients who are EBV(epstein barr virus ) positive. They then discuss the gap that older patients have to access to transplant. Some transplant centers have an arbitrary age cut off which we discussed doesnt pertain to all individuals. Further, we discussed the need for guidelines for older adult post transplant management including but not limited to frailty and cognition. We are all in the center of the continous innovation happening in the world of transplant medicine. The future of transplantation is exciting, inlcuding the recent gene edited Xenotransplantation. Increasing the number of transplants performed and aiming for one transplatn for life will be what we strive for as a community. Dr. Arpita Basu is a Transplant Nephrologist at Emory University.Please note this is not medical advice. It is meant for entertainment purposes only.