In the 11 months since we presented an audioconference on kidney paired donation (KPD), there have been a number of new developments in kidney paired donation (KPD) that transplant administrators, hospital administrators, transplant coordinators, organ procurement organization professionals and insurance executives need to understand. Our new webinar/audioconference – which allows participants to follow along with [Sign in to read the full article...]

Transplant Communications is offering its next audioconference, “New Developments in Kidney Paired Donation: UNOS KPD Pilot Program, How to file an RFP to participate, CMS’ funding policies and more,” on Thursday, June 11, from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. The speakers include John F. Friedewald, MD, incoming chair of the United Network for [Sign in to read the full article...]

LifeNet Health, the country’s largest organ procurement and tissue bank facility, has announced it will not use tissue donated by anyone who has had a colonoscopy or endoscopy in the past four months. The decision came after more than 11,000 patients at several Veterans Affairs hospitals were found to be at risk of exposure to [Sign in to read the full article...]

Researchers at gene scientist Hwang Woo-suk’s Sooam Biotech Research Center in Korea are claiming they are the first to create cloned pig embryos and use them to make embryonic stem-cell lines, the Korea Times reports. Scientists have successfully extracted stem cells from cloned primate embryos, as described in a study on monkeys published in 2007 [Sign in to read the full article...]

Jeff Keen of DuBois, Pa., wanted to help people, perhaps by becoming a nurse or a counselor, but he died at 23 and never realized those career ambitions. But, in death, he’s helping people through organ donation, the Associated Press reports. Earlier this month, Keen’s hands were transplanted onto 57-year-old Jeff Kepner at the University [Sign in to read the full article...]