Please click here for the 2008 brochure

2008
Teleconference Series

April 1, 2008 — The Sensitized Patient: Is One Therapy More Effective Than Another? —
James Gloor, M.D.
Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, MN

As the number of sensitized patients awaiting kidney transplant increases, there is a heightened focus on
desensitization strategies. Dr. Gloor will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of current clinical protocols.

April 15, 2008 — Strategies for Ambiguity Resolution —
Brian Iglehart, M.S., C.H.S.
Johns Hopkins University Immunogenetics Laboratory, Baltimore, MD

This lecture will begin with an overview of sequence based typing (SBT) workflow followed by a description of the types of sequence ambiguities typically encountered by HLA typing laboratories. Options for ambiguity resolution will be discussed along with the pros and cons of each technique.

April 22, 2008 — Do We Still Need a Prospective Crossmatch? —
Karen Nelson, Ph.D.
Puget Sound Blood Center, Immunogenetics Laboratory, Seattle, WA
and
Peter Nickerson, M.D.
Canadian Blood Services, Immunogenetics Laboratory, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

The availability of single-antigen solid-phase antibody assays has vastly improved our ability to detect and characterize donor specific antibody. This has lead some transplant programs to question whether prospective crossmatching is still necessary for all kidney transplants. The speakers will debate the pros and cons of this question.

May 6, 2008 — HLA Typing Challenges in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant —
Marcelo Fernandez-Vina, Ph.D.
University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

The explosion of HLA alleles has lead to increasing confusion about interpretation and reporting of HLA typing results. Dr. Fernandez-Vina will discuss recent ASHI and NMDP guidelines. Participants will learn how to best use allele and haplotype frequency tools available on the NMDP’s bioinformatics website for guiding donor selection.

May 13, 2008 — HLA From Start to Finish: How Genetic Information Specifies an Immune Response —
Carolyn Hurley, Ph.D.
Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC

This basic lecture will discuss the process through which nucleic acids become cell surface proteins and how they are recognized by immune system.

May 20, 2008 — HLA Typing Beyond Transplantation: Pharmacogenomics and Diagnostics —
Maria Bettinotti, Ph.D.
Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute, HLA and Immunogenetics, Chantilly, VA

There is increasing information about how the particular HLA alleles an individual expresses can contributes to how they respond to their environment and to pharmaceutical agents. This lecture will discuss how this information can be useful for diagnosis as well as individualized treatment.

June 24, 2008 — QIAxcel: An Automated Approach for SSP Electrophoresis —
David Senitzer, Ph.D.
City of Hope National Cancer Center, Histocompatibility Laboratory, Duarte, CA

For laboratories using SSP technologies, gel electrophoresis is often the most time consuming and labor intense step. This conference will describe from an HLA laboratory user’s viewpoint a new technology that automates and streamlines this step.

July 22, 2008 — Quality Assay Results? It’s All About Technique —
Hal Gibson, B.S., C.H.T
One Lambda, Inc., Canoga Park, CA

No matter what the assay, accurate and reproducible results often hinge on the most basic and seemingly trivial steps. From precise pipeting and thorough washing to thermal cycler QC, this conference will review the basics and provide useful hints for optimizing and troubleshooting assays.

July 29, 2008 — What is a Quality Assurance Program? —
Charlene Hubbell, B.S., M.T., S.B.B.
SUNY Upstate Medical University, HLA Laboratory, Syracuse, NY

Accreditation organizations require laboratories to have a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) program. This conference will discuss how to develop and maintain a quality QA program.

August 12, 2008 — Non-HLA Genomics and AlloTransplant Outcome —
Charles Mullighan, M.D.
St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Department of Pathology, Memphis, TN

The observation that HLA-matching alone does not prevent graft rejection or GVHD has generated great interest in the study of non-HLA genetic factors that contribute to allogeneic transplant outcome. This lecture will discuss studies concerning the role of microsatellite polymorphisms in immunoregulatory genes in transplant outcome.

August 19, 2008 — The DynaChip™ Antibody Assay: A User’s Perspective —
Renato Vega, B.S., C.H.S.
Johns Hopkins University Immunogenetics Laboratory, Baltimore, MD

There is a growing number of commercial solid phase antibody test available. This lecture will discuss one of the newest options, the DynaChip™ system.

August 26 , 2008 — STR Analysis for Monitoring Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients —
David Senitzer, Ph.D.
City of Hope National Cancer Center, Histocompatibility Laboratory, Duarte, CA

Short tandem repeats (STRs) are highly polymorphic DNA sequences in the human genome. This conference will discuss how STR genotype analysis is used to monitor bone marrow engraftment after allogeneic transplantation.

September 9, 2008 — Transplant Tolerance: Are We There Yet? —
Megan Sykes, M.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital, Transplantation Biology Research Center, Boston, MA

Tolerance has long been the holy grail of the transplantation. Dr. Sykes will provide an overview of concepts and approaches to tolerance induction. She will review the results of a recent clinical study that utilized allogeneic stem cell transplantation to induce tolerance prior to kidney transplantation.

September 23, 2008 — The Role of Minor Histocompatibility Antigens in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant —
Thomas Ellis, Ph.D.
Blood Center of Wisconsin, Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory, Milwaukee, WI

This lecture will discuss current knowledge of what minor histocompatibility antigens are and how they play a role in hematopoietic stem cell transplant outcome.

September 30, 2008 — Predicting Crossmatch Outcome: Approaching Virtual Reality —
Paul Warner, Ph.D. and Ruby Siegel, M.S., C.H.S.
Puget Sound Blood Center, Immunogenetics Laboratory, Seattle, WA

The ability to accurately predict crossmatch outcome based on recipient alloantibody specificity and donor HLA type has become known as the virtual crossmatch. This lecture will explore the concept of the virtual crossmatch, including factors that impact the accuracy of crossmatch prediction, the utility of the virtual crossmatch in select patient populations, and how laboratories may utilize this important tool in their own clinical practice.

October 14, 2008 — The Panel Reactive T Cell (PRT) Assay —
Peter Heeger, M.D.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Transplant Institute and Institute of Immunology, New York, NY

This lecture will discuss an ELISpot-based panel reactive T cell (PRT) assay that can identify patients at risk for post-transplant cell mediated graft injury despite the absence of humoral allosensitization.

November 18, 2008 — Update 2008: The Future of Kidney Allocation in the U.S. —
M. Sue Leffell, Ph.D.
Immunogenetics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

The OPTN/ UNOS is continuing to work toward the development of a new allocation system based on net survival benefit. Dr. Leffell, as a member of the initial review sub-committee and the current chair of the OPTN/UNOS
Histocompatibility Committee, has been intimately involved with this process and will provide participants with an update on this critical and controversial initiative.

November 25, 2008 — Immunogenomics of Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation —
Effie Petersdorf, M.D.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA

Generally accepted criteria for selection of unrelated donors for hematopoietic stem cell transplant include allele level matching of HLA loci. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), however, remains a life threatening complication even after transplant with an HLA identical donor. Dr. Petersdorf will discuss current ongoing studies of the role of non-HLA MHC genes in HSC transplant outcome.

December 2, 2008 — Immunosuppression Options: How Histocompatibility Test Results Help Guide Clinical Descisions —
Kathryn Tinckam, M.D.
University Health Network, Toronto Medical Laboratories, HLA Laboratory, Toronto, Canada

This lecture will explain modern immunosuppression options and will discuss how histocompatibility testing results no longer necessarily preclude transplant or endorse transplant but rather risk stratify patients and assist the physician in tailoring treatment to the needs of the individual patient.

December 9, 2008 — The Joint Transplant Histocompatibility Conference:

A Progress Report —
Moderated by Ronald Kerman, Ph.D.
University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX

This conference will provide an overview of the discussions and initial conclusions from a transplant and
histocompatibility conference co-supported by ASHI, AST, ASTA, ISHLT, NIH and UNOS. This will be a panel discussion with representation from histocompatibility laboratories along with transplant surgeons and physicians.

Please click here for the 2008 schedule

 

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