A Word from the Director (2008)
The Emory Transplant Center (ETC) continues to mark extraordinary accomplishments in both the clinical and academic arenas, and as is our hallmark, in the integration of the two. In fiscal year 2008, ETC assumed a new leadership role, becoming the first integrated, multi-disciplinary medical practice section in the Emory Clinic. In the Transplant Center Outpatient Clinic, transplant candidates, recipients and donors receive coordinated care from surgeons, nephrologists, hepatologists, cardiologists, pulmonologists, psychiatrists, dermatologists, infectious disease specialists, nurses, pharmacists, and social workers in a single location. The ETC has embraced the mission and challenge of delivering patient and family centered care.
In addition to focusing on service, our clinical transplant programs have made a major commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes for our patients. Towards that end, the ETC has established a quality assurance and improvement program to continuously review our patient outcomes and to build our infrastructure to ensure that patients receive evidence-based, pathway-guided care plans.
ETC Physicians and Surgeons continue to perform pediatric transplants at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, which as of December 2007 is the 5th largest pediatric transplant center in the US, ranking in the Top 5 for the seventh consecutive year. This year, Emory and Children’s received a prestigious grant from the NIH for clinical trials in Pediatric Kidney Transplantation that will direct the major innovations in pediatric transplantation in the US for the next five years.
On the academic side, our investigators and programs continue to make major contributions. At the American Transplant Congress in June 2008, it would have been hard to attend a session of that did not feature an invited presentation by a senior ETC faculty member or an abstract by an ETC trainee. Our extramural funding is growing robustly despite declining federal funding trends. Our total program funding is now over $15.85 million (FY 08), an impressive increase of more than 95% since FY 04 ($8.1 million). This vitality stems from the unique strength of the ETC — the translation of quality scientific research to patient care — facilitated by unparalleled collaborations, and faculty and staff recruitment, retention and development. We continue to excel in exceptional recruitment, including the addition of Dr. Stuart Knechtle as the new Surgical Director of Liver Transplantation. The ETC has grown to encompass 42 faculty, all working towards an ever-increasing level of success.
Together, we are now ready to begin the next phase of the ETC journey — to become the leading transplant center in the US. What does it mean to be the leading transplant center? Without question our patient outcomes must be outstanding, but we know there is more to it than that. There are at least three fundamental areas in which we must excel to lead: we must be the best place to come to receive a transplant — from the perspective of the patient, a referring physician or a managed care provider. We must be the best place to work — a place that fosters the growth and development of our staff, faculty and trainees in clinical care, business, and research. Finally, we must be the best home for investment by the NIH, funding agencies and philanthropists as we seek to develop innovative solutions to address the major unmet needs of patients through our research and innovative approaches to multi-disciplinary care delivery. In the coming year, we will initiate a dialogue to bring greater definition to what being "the best" means for each and every member of the ETC.
The achievements of the ETC are vibrant examples of what can be accomplished when a diverse and dedicated team pursues a common goal of transforming health and healing. New challenges and numerous opportunities await us in the year ahead. I applaud the remarkable and collaborative work of all of the members of the Emory Transplant Center and am pleased and proud to present the outcome of our work for fiscal year 2008 in this Annual Report.
Christian P. Larsen, MD, DPhil
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