AJT Highlights

The History of Transplant

In this specialty podcast, Dr. Justin Barr is joined by Dr. Thomas Schlich and Dr. Susan Lederer to discuss the early history of transplant surgery, with Dr. Schlich focusing on the mostly European efforts inaugurating solid organ transplant between 1880 and 1910 whilst Dr. Lederer concentrates on skin, blood, and corneal transplants in early 20^th century America.   

Justin Barr practices abdominal transplant and advanced hepatobiliary surgery at the Ochsner Clinic

Thomas Schlich is the James McGill Professor and Department Chair at McGill University

Susan E. Lederer is the Ronald Numbers Professor of History of Medicine and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison

References:

The Origins of Organ Transplantation

Flesh and Blood: Organ Transplantation and Blood Transfusion in Twentieth-Century America

AJT March 2026 Editors’ Picks

Description:  Hosts Roz and Dr. Sanchez-Fueyo are joined by Justin Barr to discuss the key articles of the March issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.

Justin Barr practices abdominal transplant and advanced hepatobiliary surgery at Ochsner Medical Center

[03:13] Implementation of a physician assistant-led recovery model for heart transplantation: Clinical outcomes and programmatic benefits at a high-volume center

[13:54] A 100-year simulation of the National Kidney Registry’s voucher program

[25:32] Risk of deficient mismatch repair colorectal cancer and precursors after kidney transplantation: A nationwide study

[35:09] Predictive value of torque teno virus viral load for BK polyomavirus DNAemia depends on BK polyomavirus–specific humoral immunity in kidney transplant recipients

[42:50] Suppression of cardiac allograft vasculopathy by a macrophage efferocytosis receptor

AJT February 2026 Editors’ Picks

Description:  Hosts Roz and Dr. Sanchez-Fueyo are joined by Juan Pablo Huidobro to discuss the key articles of the February issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.

Juan Pablo Huidobro is an Assistant Professor in Nephrology at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

[02:52] Evolving landscape of thrombotic microangiopathy in kidney transplant recipients in the post–C5 inhibitor era

[13:22] Erythropoietin prolongs graft survival in mice by counteracting trained immunity

[22:06] A new principle to attenuate ischemia reperfusion injury in kidney transplantation

[33:14] Sustained allogeneic kidney graft operational tolerance despite discontinued conventional immunosuppression after CD19-CAR-T-cell therapy for relapsed/refractory post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder

[40:15] Bloodstream Infection Subtypes and Characteristics Comparing Solid Organ Transplant and Non-Transplant Populations

AJT January 2026 Editors’ Picks

AJT January 2026 Editors’ Picks

Description:  Hosts Roz and Dr. Sanchez-Fueyo are joined by Dr. Al-Faraaz Kassam to discuss the key articles of the January issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.

Al-Faraaz Kassam is an Assistant Professor in Transplant Surgery at Johns Hopkins University

[03:45] Evaluation of kidney procurement biopsy and machine perfusion on allograft outcomes: A retrospective cohort study of the OPTN database

[11:23] Improving the  histologic detection of donor-specific antibody-negative antibody-mediated rejection in kidney transplants

[23:01] Exosome-primed T cell immunity is facilitated by complement activation

[32:26] Landscape of subclinical rejection in a large international cohort of pediatric kidney transplant (kTx) recipients

[42:19] Donor Heart Preservation at 10°C After Thoracoabdominal Normothermic Regional Perfusion Lowers Rates of Severe Primary Graft Dysfunction and Improves Recipient Transplant Outcomes

 

AJT December 2025 Editors’ Picks

AJT December 2025 Editors’ Picks

Description:  Hosts Roz and Dr. Sanchez-Fueyo are joined by Hannah Bahakel to discuss the key articles of the December issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.

Hannah Bahakel is a Clinical Immunodeficiency fellow at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

[03:34] Higher vs standard mean arterial pressure target in the immediate postoperative period of liver transplantation to prevent acute kidney injury: A randomized clinical trial (LIVER-PAM)

[13:51] Donor-derived cell-free DNA significantly improves rejection yield in kidney transplant biopsies

[26:27] Tolerogenic lung allograft microenvironment suppresses pathogenic tissue remodeling following respiratory virus infection in mice

[37:11] Therapeutic needs in solid organ transplant recipients: The American Society of Transplantation patient survey

[48:19] Impact of kidney function on 200 days of antiviral prophylaxis for cytomegalovirus disease in cytomegalovirus-seronegative recipients of cytomegalovirus-seropositive donor kidneys: Post hoc analysis of a randomized, phase 3 trial of letermovir vs valganciclovir prophylaxis

AJT November 2025 Editors’ Picks

Description:  Hosts Roz and Dr. Sanchez-Fueyo are joined by Christie Rampersad to discuss the key articles of the November issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.

Christie Rampersad is clinical associate, in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Toronto in the Ajmera Transplant Centre

[03:45] The early impacts of an attempt to standardize kidney procurement biopsy practices

[13:40] The current state of simultaneous heart-liver transplantation in the United States

[20:11] Engaging patients in organ transplant listing meetings: A survey study

[37:32] Single-cell transcriptional landscape of liver transplant rejection reveals tissue persistence of clonally expanded, treatment-resistant T cells

[45:32] Infectious disease surveillance and management in clinical xenotransplantation: Experience with the first human porcine kidney transplant

AJT October 2025 Editors’ Picks

AJT October 2025 Editors’ Picks

Description:  Hosts Roz and Dr. Sanchez-Fueyo are joined by Dr. Christina Haugen to discuss the key articles of the October issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.

Dr. Christina Haugen is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Cincinnati.

[03:28] Renal resistance trajectories during hypothermic machine perfusion in kidneys donated after circulatory death: Associations with donor characteristics and posttransplant outcomes—An analysis of COMPARE trial data

[10:26] Donor-specific mesenchymal stem cell infusion in human and nonhuman primate kidney transplantation

[19:21] Potential targeting of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor–formyl peptide receptor signaling to prevent recurrence in posttransplant primary podocytopathies

[30:20] The relationship between cessation of brain and systemic circulation after withdrawal of life-sustaining measures

[36:03] Pretransplant natural antibody levels identify a subset of deceased donor kidney transplant recipients that benefit from infliximab induction

AJT September 2025 Editors’ Picks

Hosts Roz and Dr. Sanchez-Fueyo discuss the key articles of the September issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.

[03:30] Blunted cardiac reserve as a marker of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy—Cardiac outcomes following liver transplantation and comparison to the existing guidelines

[14:18] Back-table intra-arterial administration of C1 esterase inhibitor to deceased donor kidney allografts improves posttransplant allograft function: Results of a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial

[25:55] Donor-derived cell-free DNA is associated with the degree of immunosuppression in lung transplantation

[36:24] A two-threshold algorithm using donor-derived cell-free DNA fraction and quantity to detect acute rejection after heart transplantation

[45:00] Cell therapy with human Interleukin 10–producing ILC2s enhances islet function and inhibits allograft rejection

Kidney transplantation for undocumented immigrants in the United States: challenges and Ethical considerations

In this Specialty Podcast, Dr. Dami Ko is joined by Dr. Katherine Rizzolo, and Dr. Leonela Villegas to discuss kidney transplantation for undocumented immigrants in the United States, particularly the challenges they face and ethical considerations.

Dr. Dami Ko is an assistant professor at Northeastern University, specializing in post-transplant care and quality of life.

Dr. Katherine Rizzolo is a nephrologist in Boston, MA.

Dr. Leonela Villegas is a Pediatric Nephrologist at Hartford, CT

References:

Long-term impact of immigration status on outcomes in pediatric kidney transplant recipients. 

Successful pathways to liver transplant for undocumented immigrants. 

Undocumented immigrants: A glaring inequity in transplant.

AJT August 2025 Editors’ Picks

Hosts Roz and Alberto are joined by new Editorial Fellow Dr. Sofia Bin to discuss the key articles of the August issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.

Dr. Sofia Bin is an assistant professor of medical and surgical sciences at the University of Bologna.

 

[02:46] Gut microbiome alterations precede graft rejection in kidney transplantation patients

[10:31] Molecular diagnosis of kidney allograft rejection based on the Banff Human Organ Transplant gene panel: a multicenter international study

Editorial: Graft biopsy reimagined: Integrating morphology and molecular maps

[22:20] Does a changing donor pool explain the recent rise in the United States kidney nonuse rate?

[32:45] A scintigraphic look at the dead donor rule in donation after the circulatory determination of death with the use of normothermic regional perfusion: A single-center interventional trial

Editorial: Normothermic regional perfusion in donation after circulatory determination of death—Confirming the absence of brain reperfusion

[37:03] Global variation in living donor liver transplantation practices impacts donor and recipient short-term outcomes: initial insights from the International LDLT Registry