Periodic Reporting for period 2 - TIREX (Koç University Transplant Immunology Research Center of Excellence)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2022-03-01 do 2023-12-31
Organ and stem cell/bone marrow transplantation saves tens of thousands of lives annually and has a global market size of approximately 25 billion USD. The outputs of the transplant research benefit patients worldwide regardless of where the research is conducted. Research Centres in Western Europe and North America conduct excellent transplant research, especially in the field of transplant immunology. However, there is significant untapped experimental and clinical research potential in the South-Eastern European countries, including Turkey. The strategic goal of TIREX is to place Koç University the host institution of our project at the forefront of Transplant Immunology Research, Development, and Innovation (R&D+I) by the establishment of a Transplant Immunology Research Centre of Excellence (TIREX), anchored in Istanbul. The Centre will entail the vision and ambition to: (i) fully leverage on the considerable national and South-Eastern Europe potential in the research and clinical field of transplant immunology, (ii) liaison and act as a Key Knowledge Hub to link local and regional research capacities in the field with the main European Centres of Excellence; (iii) provide a direct interface with well-established international research and clinical communities in particular in Middle-East and Asia, and (iv) effectively address the health, demographic change and wellbeing societal national, regional and European challenges through successive scientific advancements.
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.
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.
Organ and tissue transplantation saves tens of thousands of lives each year and creates substantial economic activity with a global market size of 90 billion USD. The goal of our project is to set up a multi-disciplinary research group on Transplant Immunology focusing on novel laboratory and clinical approaches to benefit patients with organ failure. The centre entails the vision and ambition to fully leverage on the considerable South-Eastern Europe potential in the research and clinical field of Transplant Immunology and act as a Key Knowledge Hub to link local and regional research capacities in the field with the main European Centres of Excellence. Harmonization of transplant immunology studies in the South-Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Western Europe is expected to increase the cohort size in clinical studies. This impact alone would significantly increase the quality of data and probability of success in these clinical studies.