Author: Allan Kirk, MD

Learning Objectives

1. Describe Basic Immunology – adaptive or specific immunity
2. Describe the relationship between antigen presenting cells and cytokines released by cells of the innate immune response
3. Describe the types of antigen presenting cells and the changes that occur following exposure to antigen
4. List the subsets of T cells and describe their function
5. Describe the distribution of MHC Class I and Class I molecules on immune cells and commonly transplanted organs
6. Describe the function of MHC Class I and Class II antigens
7. Define the first, second, and third signals involved in the initiation of an effective antigen specific response

Author: Kelley M.K. Hitchman, MS, PhD, F(ACHI)

Learning Objectives:

1. Review the history and evolution of diagnostic criteria for antibody mediated rejection (AMR).
2. Describe mechanisms in which mismatched donor HLA antigens can cause and contribute to AMR.
3. Explain the components and process of performing a virtual crossmatch, as well as how it is applied as a specialized immunologic risk assessment for transplant pairs.
4. Summarize different timings and manifestations of AMR.
5. Understand how HLA-DSA detection can correlate with rejection and how anti-HLA antibody testing can help inform desensitization.

Author: Kelley M.K. Hitchman, MS, PhD, F(ACHI)

Learning Objectives:

1. List key genes of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) encoding for HLA molecules and describe MHC inheritance.
2. Summarize MHC and HLA polymorphism, HLA molecule expression and HLA molecule functions.
3. Appraise the role of HLA molecules and peptides in transplantation.
4. Describe test methods utilized by clinical histocompatibility & immunogenetics laboratories for the purposes of HLA typing and anti-HLA antibody detection/identification, as well as the clinical applications of such HLA data.

Author: Garrett Roll, MD, FACS

Learning Objectives:

1. How does advanced preservation influence outcomes
2. Understand the different  types of advanced preservation, focusing on NMP
3. Results from the landmark clinical trials, and understand why they need to be interpreted in context
4. Results from emerging post approval, real-world data
5. Consider our biggest challenges

Author: Allan Kirk, MD

Learning Objectives

1.  Definition of acute and chronic allograft rejection
2.  Cellular effector mechanisms of rejection 
3.  Variables influencing alloreactivity 
4.  Acellular effector mechanisms of rejection 
5. Variables influencing alloantibody reactivity 
6. Overview of complement activation
7. Mediators of intracellular communication  
8.  Co-stimulator molecules 

Author: Sang-Mo Kang, MD

Learning Objectives:

1. Define basic transplant immunology terminology 
2. Describe how alloantigens are presented and recognized by the host immune system 
3.  Describe the host immune response to alloantigens 

Author: Satish Nadig, MD, PhD

Learning Objectives

1.  What is tolerance?
2.  Types of tolerance 
3.  Review central and peripheral tolerance 
4.  Overview of T cell activation and cellular targets to achieve tolerance
5.  Review the possible Mechanisms to achieve tolerance 
6.  Summary of strategies to achieve tolerance and future directions 

Author: Michael Mengel, MD

Learning Objectives

1. To review the pathomechanisms of acute and chronic kidney allograft injury

2. To understand the Banff classification system for diagnosing acute and chronic kidney allograft injury

3. To highlight the limitations of the current Banff classification system 

4. To discuss future developments to increase diagnostics precision in acute and chronic kidney allograft injury

Author: Cinthia Drachenberg, MD

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the different mechanisms leading to graft failure
2. Recognize the long-term impact of rejection for the organ
3. Discuss the main histological and physiopathological aspects of islet dysfunction. 

1. Understand the general classes/groups of agents and mechanism of action
2. Appreciate the concern, possible mechanism and unintended side effects
3. Identify CNI minimization and CNI free protocols as viable alternatives with focus updated data on benefits and risk compared to CNI based immunosuppression