Opportunities for Repair and Regeneration

Thomas L. Petty Aspen Lung Conference
“Lung Transplantation: Opportunities for Repair and Regeneration”, Martin R. Zamora, M.D., Chair/Tereza Martinu, M.D. and Mark R. Nicolls, M.D., Co-Chairs/June 8-11, 2016/The Gant Conference Center/Aspen, Colorado
The life cycle of a lung transplant spans donation, explantation, preservation, implantation and finally accommodation. Through each of these stages innate and adaptive responses involving inflammation and fibrosis can harm the life-saving graft. Emerging insights into these events create the potential for new interventions that promote organ health and patient survival. With an emphasis on integration of basic, translational and clinical approaches, the 59th Annual Aspen Lung Conference will focus on the central question of each of these stages: how can knowledge of the mechanisms underlying allograft injury, airway inflammation and remodeling be translated into effective approaches to improve long-term allograft survival? To address this central question, the program will be organized into a series of thematic sessions focusing on (i) new concepts in lung allograft preservation and reconditioning utilizing ex-vivo lung perfusion, (ii) adaptive immunity including new arenas in T cell and B cell biology, (iii) host response/innate immune mechanisms, (iv) airway/allograft remodeling and (v) strategic approaches to translating scientific advances into impactful therapy including molecular phenotyping, novel immunosuppression and development of novel diagnostic and monitoring techniques. These diverse themes will be reconciled in a concluding Conference Summary presented by Michael A. Matthay, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Anesthesia, University of California, San Francisco. Our overall objective is to assemble thought leaders in transplantation to educate the next generation of scientists and define the next big steps to be taken in the field.