This session will explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping the landscape of histocompatibility testing and transplant medicine. Participants will gain insights into how AI is enhancing processes such as virtual crossmatching and single-cell repertoire prospects, ultimately improving patient outcomes. Real-world examples will illustrate both the promise and limitations of these technologies. The presentations will also cover the transformative role of AI in solid organ (SOT) and Hematopoietic Cell transplant (HCT) and cell therapy clinical research. In addition, presenters will address ethical implications, data integrity concerns, and the need for thoughtful governance as AI becomes increasingly integrated into patient care.
The advancement of molecular HLA typing technologies, along with computational methods for analyzing B-cell and T-cell HLA determinants/targets (often referred to as "epitopes"), has led to the development of tools for assessing the degree of donor-recipient HLA disparity at the molecular level. This session will provide a historical overview of molecular HLA mismatch analysis, explore the various available tools, address their limitations, and critically evaluate the current clinical evidence regarding the use of these tools in transplant practices.
Therapies that harness the immune system's ability to target and destroy cancer cells revolutionized the treatment of hematologic malignances and continue to evolve at an accelerated pace. In this plenary session, experts in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (HCT) and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells will inform us on advances that enable the use of these cellular therapies on a growing number of patients. We will learn how the expansion of the donor pool with mismatched unrelated donors, the use of personalized medicine to find donors for highly sensitized patients, and the accelerated production of CAR T cells open the pathway for patients who in the past had no access to these life-saving treatments.
The 2024 Dream Team is back! Workshop 1 will focus on Best Practices in HLA Antibody Interpretation and Virtual Crossmatching, expanding upon the success of prior years. The session will again be interactive with new cases for you to analyze, and the collective findings presented during the workshop which we expect will again incite lively discussion and learning.
Histocompatibility laboratories outside North America and Europe face multiple challenges of different nature. To properly support the established regional and neighboring stem-cell and solid-organ transplant programs, these laboratories have devised creative solutions to efficiently and effectively function under different pressures. In this workshop, the audience will learn about some of the challenges histocompatibility laboratories face in China, Iran and South Africa, three regions with prominent and long-established transplant programs. Creative solutions will be described with some lessons learned that can benefit practices outside of these regions.
This session is a continuation of the ‘Back to Basics’ workshop that has been held in the past two meetings. The focus is on some of the cells involved in antibody mediated rejection (AMR) including B cells, memory B cells, and NK cells.
**This session is by invitation only
**This session is by invitation only
**This session is by invitation only
**Don't forget to register for the 5k or 1 mile walk. If you haven't signed up, you may sign up onsite at the ASHI Registration Desk
Allograft microvascular inflammation (MVI) is a hallmark histological feature of antibody-mediated allograft injury. However, microvascular inflammation most frequently occurs in the absence of detectable donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies. This highlights the need for a better understanding of the different phenotypes of MVI and the underlying mechanisms of allograft injury. This session will explore the different clinical presentations and outcomes of the Banff phenotypes of MVI and will discuss the role of the adaptive and innate immune responses in MVI beyond HLA-DSA.
Virtual crossmatching (vXM) has proven to be a valuable tool in organ transplantation, allowing for greater efficiency during allocation and acceptance. Since the recognition of its validity from regulatory bodies, utilization has steeply risen and use of vXM has become routine practice. This workshop has been designed to discuss relevance of the vXM, in both OPO and recipient laboratories, as well as its impact on transplant outcomes.
In this workshop, attendees will learn about and experiment with some of the lab tools that were created to enable the efficient handling of primary HLA laboratory data and multiple caveats of HLA matching for transplant. Through some carefully crafted examples and case studies, you will learn about some common pitfalls to avoid that could have potential clinical impacts and some established collaborations that will result in more tools to benefit HLA laboratory practices. Lastly, attendees of this workshop will get an overview of how ASHI proficiency Testing (PT) data are processed and some areas of improvement.
Join us for a brief Laboratory Developed Tests (LDT) update, followed by a Histo-drama that brings real-world scenarios seen throughout the HLA community to life! Going to work can be challenging, especially when the environment isn’t meeting your needs! What do you do in this situation? Do you hide in a corner and cry? Do you tough it out until retirement? Or explore opportunities that align better with your goals? Though it may not be a Broadway production, we promise you will enjoy it, all while discussing and exploring creative approaches to improve tech retention! We hope you will walk away with ideas that you can implement in your own labs!
Join us for a brief Laboratory Developed Tests (LDT) update, followed by a Histo-drama that brings real-world scenarios seen throughout the HLA community to life! Going to work can be challenging, especially when the environment isn’t meeting your needs! What do you do in this situation? Do you hide in a corner and cry? Do you tough it out until retirement? Or explore opportunities that align better with your goals? Though it may not be a Broadway production, we promise you will enjoy it, all while discussing and exploring creative approaches to improve tech retention! We hope you will walk away with ideas that you can implement in your own labs!
This plenary session will explore cutting-edge discoveries in the role of HLA molecules in shaping autoimmune responses. Speakers will highlight how HLA-B*27 presents bacterial and self-antigens to pathogenic CD8 T cells to induce ankylosing spondilitis, and how the islet microenvironment drives neoepitope formation to drive DQ8-restricted T cell response in type 1 diabetes. The session will also delve into the genetic and immunological underpinnings of autoimmune brain disorders, offering a broad perspective on HLA-associated disease mechanisms across organ systems.
A new strategy for systematically classifying HLA alleles into associated antigens was recently approved by the W.H.O. Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System. The use of HLA Serotypes will facilitate virtual crossmatches and donor specific antibody assessments by offering a formal definition of antigens and informing the implementation of single antigen bead panels that encompass all clinically relevant variants.