Our project’s main aim is to establish a Transplant Immunology Centre of Excellence (TIREX) at Koç University, attain scientific excellence in line with ERA priorities within the Centre and the University, and affect pertinent, positive, countrywide/regionwide change in the field. Despite COVID-19 related disruptions, particularly at the onset of the project, we had concrete and impactful progress during the last 18 months. Recruitment of a pioneer scientist in transplant immunology field as the ERA Chair Holder (Prof. Caner Süsal) had an immediate effect as other notable scientists, clinicians, companies and key opinion leaders in the field became aware of TIREX, in Turkey and abroad. To further increase the awareness of local researchers and clinicians, “Novel Developments in Renal Transplantation” meeting was held at Koç University Hospital on December 18th, 2021 with more than 200 attendees from all over Turkey where the goals of TIREX have been presented and discussed with key opinion leaders. We also established and International Advisory Board (IAB), which is composed of internationally recognized scientists from Europe and the USA who are willing to establish lasting collaboration with researchers working in Turkey.
TIREX is composed of the scientifically oriented Transplant Immunology lab which gives state-of-the-art service for the organ and stem cell transplantation programs of KU and other transplant centres (=Routine Lab), the Clinical Studies Group and the Experimental Studies Group. The Routine Lab was established as the first group for donor–recipient matching in organ and stem cell transplantation and pre- and post-transplant immune monitoring of transplant recipients. Clinical Studies Group, focuses on solutions for highly sensitized kidney transplant recipients and immunological studies in organ transplantation. Lastly, we are in the process of establishing the third group, which will conduct experimental research on different subfields of transplant immunology.
We also developed a training plan for TIREX members. We use a three-pronged approach for training. Firstly, Koç University has established three graduate programmes for Immunology: i) Immunology Non-Thesis Master’s Programme, ii) Immunology Master’s Programme, and iii) Immunology PhD Programme. ECH participated personally in the promotion of the Immunology Master’s Programmes of KU on March 9, 2022 and April 21, 2022. These graduate programmes carried out by KU Graduate School of Health Sciences (GSHS) aim to provide young researchers with a perspective that encourages translational research. In addition to formal training in the form of graduate education, each research group (i.e. the Routine Lab, the Clinical Studies Group and the Experimental Studies Group) has its own technical training programme, which are / will be conducted by the group heads. These training programmes aims to achieve excellence in the technical skills of its members. Lastly, we provide TIREX members opportunities to improve their soft-skills in research management and commercialization of research outputs.
