KIDNEY TRANSPLANT TODAY- Sept. 2018
Labor Secretary Acosta Earns Patient Praise for Organ Donor Job Protections
 
The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) thanked U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta for his leadership and bold action to protect the job security of courageous Americans who wish to take time off from their jobs to donate their organs to patients in need of life-saving transplants. 
 
The Department of Labor issued a formal opinion letter stating that Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) coverage extends to organ donation and that eligible employees are entitled to unpaid and job-protected leave because related care procedures such as overnight and in-patient and follow-up care qualify.

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In This Issue
Yale Kidney Center receives renewed grant funding
 
The George M. O'Brien Kidney Center at Yale School of Medicine has received renewed funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. The total grant award of $6 million is for the five-year period 2018-2023.
 
The overarching goal of the center, which operates in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University and is directed by Dr. Peter S. Aronson, is to facilitate basic, translational, and clinical research that will advance the prevention and treatment of kidney diseases. Major research areas of emphasis are renal epithelial cell biology and physiology; inherited kidney disease and kidney development; acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease; and vascular biology, inflammation and glomerular disease.

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Solid Organ Transplantation Pharmacy Recognized as New Specialty
 
The Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) is excited to announce that solid organ transplantation pharmacy is formally recognized as the thirteenth pharmacy specialty.
  
Andrea A. Iannucci, PharmD, BCOP, the 2018 Chair of the BPS Board of Directors, Assistant Chief Pharmacist, Oncology and Investigational Drugs Services at the University of California - Davis Medical Center (UCDMC), and Clinical Professor with the UCSF School of Pharmacy and UCDMC School of Medicine provided the following comments: "BPS is very pleased to formally acknowledge solid organ transplantation as a new pharmacy specialty. Given that a new patient is added to the national transplant waiting list every 10 minutes and that these patients receive as many as 8-15 medications, many of which are expensive or have a narrow therapeutic index, the need for pharmacist specialists to ensure the best patient outcomes is evident." 
 
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AAKP BOD and Ambassador Dave White Describes his Experience at the 2018 Summer Transplant Games of America       
 
I heard a supporter yell "Go Maryland!" while I was chugging my way around the last turn into the home stretch. I saw three runners ahead of me and said to myself "oh well, no medal today." I was exhausted and my legs begged me to stop running, but I kept pushing for Team Maryland, my friends at AAKP and many other organizations, my family, and most importantly for my father who was on Flushing High School's track team back in the day (he was a city champion high jumper and also ran the quarter mile race). I finished the Transplant Games of America men's 400 meter race (age 50-59 recipient division) in 1 minute and 26.78 seconds. I was a little disappointed, but training for the event and running the race made me feel like an athlete again!
 
The 2018 Transplant Games of America were held in Salt Lake City, Utah from August 2-7, 2018 with a record 5,511 registered participants and an estimated total of over 8,000 people attending. 

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AAKP newsletters are for informational purposes and share some of the latest news in popular media and within the kidney community. The content included is not necessarily the opinion of the Association.