Could we save this patient? Cell-free DNA Exposes Gaps in Transplant Rejection Care
Sean Agbor-Enoh, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine
Lung Transplant Program
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Lab Chief, NIH Distinguished Scholar
Lasker Clinical Tenure Track Investigator
Laboratory of Applied Precision Omics, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Timothy A. Johnson Medical Scholar Lecture
Could We Save This Patient? Cell-free DNA Exposes Gaps in Transplant Rejection Care
Date: Oct. 22, 2024
Time: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. (Reception and hors d'oeuvres at 5 p.m.)
About this Seminar
The timely diagnosis of acute rejection is important to guide early treatment decisions and reduce the risk of downstream allograft failure and early death. Biopsy, the invasive gold standard, blindly samples allograft tissue for histopathology. The latter shows low sensitivity and high interobserver variability. These limitations lead to delayed diagnosis and increased mortality, particularly in lung transplantation, where 50% of patients die within only 6-7 years of transplantation. Plasma cell-free DNA show increased sensitivity detecting and risk-stratifying rejection earlier than biopsy. The lessons learned are broadly applicable in COVID-19, MIS-C, and other non-transplant diseases.
Additional Details
This is a free event hosted by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. The Timothy A. Johnson Medical Scholar Lecture Series hosts clinician scientists who are exploring frontiers of medicine. These lectures are principally intended for Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine students and Virginia Tech students in the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health graduate program. Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic faculty, staff, and students may also attend.
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