IIt is an honour and a great responsibility to be the President of the Catalan Transplantation Society, a position I accepted in June 2023 with the establishment of the new Board of the Societat Catalana de Trasplantament SCT. First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude, on behalf of my fellow Board members, for your support for this new Board that assumes the leadership of the SCT. I would also like to express my gratitude to the outgoing Board for their excellent work for our Society. With this letter of introduction from the new Board and as the new President of the SCT, I would like to take the opportunity to share some thoughts with all of you.
Solid organ transplantation (SOT) reached its maturity a long time ago, as it has been over 50 years since the first kidney transplant, 40 years since the first liver transplant in Spain, and at least 25 years of history for many other solid organ transplants. This history invites one to reflect on where we are and where we need to go. If we look at activity and outcome indicators in Catalonia, we are indeed one of the places in the world where transplantation medicine is most developed and equitable. Despite this undeniable success of Catalan transplantation, we must be vigilant about the direction in which this reality seems to be moving in the coming years. In this regard, first and foremost, despite all the advances we have witnessed in regenerative medicine, organ replacement machines, etc., solid organ transplantation will undoubtedly remain a fundamental treatment for many patients in the near future. However, we need to be aware that the landscape is changing rapidly. For example, the fascination and "novelty" of SOT in our society are clearly declining, as is the industry's investment in new transplant drugs. Furthermore, organ donation scenarios are shifting dramatically towards donation after circulatory death (DCD), with all the mindset changes required for professionals and society. Lastly, we have started to become capable of "repairing" organs for transplantation, which implies strategic changes. In short, we have many challenges and changes that should make us view the future of SOT with optimism.
Therefore, we must make SOT attractive to the new generations who will have to embrace these challenges and continue the work. In this sense, the most important mission of the Catalan Society of Transplantation is to be a society for all professionals involved in SOT, especially the younger ones, and to be a beacon in our continuing education and an excellent forum for SOT.
In order to achieve this, the intention of the new SCT Board is to continue promoting the continuous education programme based on regular sessions with the broadest possible participation, especially from younger members. We also need to maintain the high level of our biennial Congress, which is the most important event organised by our SCT, with the next edition coming in 2025.
Our objectives are as follows:
Continue fostering education and research through scholarships and awards as one of the most important values of our Society.
Enhance the scientific quality of clinical and basic research presentations at the Society's congresses.
Stimulate collaborations with other scientific transplantation societies.
Foster collaborative relationships with the Catalan Transplant Organization (OCATT), the Spanish National Transplant Organization (ONT), Eurotransplant, and the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT). Also, collaborate with Health Authorities on issues related to SOT.
Encourage collaboration among transplant units in multicenter studies.
Maintain, stimulate, and disseminate scientific activity in SOT through the Society's biennial Congress and the annual Continuing Education Course.
Maintain the SCT website as a fundamental communication tool for our Society.
And finally, on behalf of the entire Board of Directors of our Society, I would like to ask for your active participation, as the SCT involves all of us.
Sincerely,
Laura Lladó
President of the SCT 2023