Semaine du don vivant 2022 : Ce qui s’en vient
La Semaine du don vivant (#LDW2022) approche à grands pas et le PRDTC est heureux de souligner cette importante initiative pour sensibiliser à la recherche sur le don vivant. La Semaine du don vivant est un événement de sensibilisation du public lancé par le Centre for Living Organ Donation en 2020 avec le soutien de la communauté de transplantation à travers le Canada et plus encore. Elle a lieu chaque année, à compter du dimanche suivant la fête du Travail.
Cette année, les événements auront lieu dans la semaine du 11 septembre.
Pour célébrer cette semaine de sensibilisation, le PRDTC prépare différents types d’événements pour notre communauté :
Webinaire spécial du PRDTC
Le 13 septembre, le PRDTC a le plaisir d’accueillir Susan McKenzie du Transplant Ambassador Program. Susan présentera à la communauté le projet Patients Seeking Donors, une nouvelle initiative qui vise à jumeler des donneurs de rein vivants avec des Canadiens en attente d’une transplantation.
- Mardi 13 septembre 2022
- 15h à 16h HAE
À props de Susan Q. McKenzie
Susan est une professionnelle expérimentée des communications et de la collecte de fonds qui a travaillé à l’avancement d’un certain nombre d’organismes de bienfaisance au Canada. En 2010, après une année de dialyse, elle a reçu un nouveau rein de la sœur de son mari. La peur et l’isolement qu’elle a ressentis à cette occasion ont fait germer dans son esprit l’idée qu’il fallait faire beaucoup plus pour aider les personnes atteintes d’une maladie rénale. Deux des trois filles de Susan ont également été diagnostiquées avec une mutation génétique rare (MUC1) qui entraîne à terme une insuffisance rénale.
Lorsque la fille cadette de Susan a eu besoin d’une greffe de rein en 2017, elle a dû aider sa fille à s’orienter dans le système de santé à la recherche d’un donneur vivant, ce qui a mis en évidence le rôle essentiel des patients et des donneurs pour s’entraider dans cette période très difficile. N’étant pas du genre à reculer devant un défi, Susan a commencé à travailler avec d’autres patients, des donneurs vivants et des chercheurs pour mettre en place le Transplant Ambassador Program (TAP), un programme de soutien par les pairs, dirigé par des bénévoles, qui aide les patients et les donneurs de rein à naviguer dans le parcours de la transplantation depuis 2017.
Aujourd’hui, le TAP compte plus de 150 ambassadeurs et a été lancé dans les 27 centres rénaux de l’Ontario. TAP a récemment lancé d’autres fonctionnalités innovantes pour soutenir les patients et les donneurs vivants, notamment un nouveau répertoire d’ambassadeurs, et un service inédit au Canada, Patients Seeking Donors, qui permet aux patients de publier un profil sur un site web sûr et sécurisé pour les aider dans leur recherche d’un donneur vivant.
Accent sur le partenariat : The Centre for Living Organ Donation à UHN
The Centre for Living Organ Donation a été créé par le University Health Network (UHN) Transplant (maintenant the Ajmera Transplant Centre) en 2018 pour améliorer l’accès aux dons vivants pour les personnes qui ont besoin d’une greffe de rein ou de foie ainsi que pour les personnes qui désirent faire don de la vie. Le Ajmera Transplant Centre est le plus grand programme de transplantation d’organes en Amérique du Nord. Il collabore également avec SickKids dans le cadre du plus grand programme de transplantation pédiatrique avec donneur vivant au Canada.
Le Centre for Living Organ Donation sensibilise, soutient, promeut la recherche et offre de l’espoir aux milliers de personnes qui attendent une greffe de rein ou de foie – et à tous ceux qui veulent faire partie de leur avenir.
Pour plus d’informations, visitez leur site web ici (en anglais seulement).
#LDW2022 features
- Des bâtiments-clés illuminés en vert et des événements organisés par des partenaires locaux dans des communautés d’un océan à l’autre ;
- une diffusion en ligne de célébration présentant des histoires de dons vivants, des entretiens, des selfies de médailles de donneurs vivants et bien plus encore ;
- Un mur de gratitude pour partager des messages de remerciement à l’intention de votre donneur vivant, du receveur et de tous ceux qui ont soutenu votre parcours. Publiez votre message à l’avance et il pourra être lu lors de l’événement de célébration du 12 septembre ;
- Un atelier pratique en ligne sur la façon de partager votre histoire et de commencer la recherche d’un donneur vivant pour les personnes atteintes d’une maladie rénale ou hépatique en phase terminale, ainsi que leurs proches aidants et amis ;
- Le lancement d’une campagne nationale de sensibilisation du public au don d’organes entre personnes vivantes ;
- D’autres lancements d’événements de partenaires.
ity of Alberta and has received training in patient-oriented research through the University of Calgary’s PACER (Patient and Community Engagement Research) Program. He is the Patient, Family, and Donor Partnerships & Education Manager with the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program. In this role, Manuel builds relationships patient partners with investigators and strengthens capacity among CDTRP patient partners.
Anders Billström 
Gareth Wiltshire
K
Sherrie Logan 
born and raised in Edmonton, AB. With a degree in Music Performance (saxophone performance) and Education, Lindsey has taught for over a decade in the Edmonton Public School system. When she is not teaching, she is very involved in the music community, performing in the Edmonton Winds, conducting her own community ensemble (The Beer League Band) and on numerous musical boards across the province. For the past 5 years, Lindsey has had to take a break from teaching after having her amazing son, George. Maternity leave did not goes as expected as George was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy at 5 months old and required 2 heart transplants before the age of 4. During this time, Lindsey has also began to dedicate her time building and expanding her charity: Big Gifts for Little Lives, where they raise money to fund Pediatric Heart Transplant research at the Stollery.
Dr. Caigan Du is a scientist at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Urologic Sciences at the University of British Columbia. He received a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry in UK and postdoctoral training in Immunology in USA. He is interested in the pathogenesis of kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury and transplant rejection, and molecular control of urinary malignancies. He has been studying the impact of kidney donor-derived factors on renal allograft rejection, and the molecular pathways of kidney injury and regeneration in experimental models. He is also interested in developing medical solution including drugs made from natural compounds for all kinds of health problems, including immune disorders, organ preservation, kidney failure and urinary cancer. He is the PI of many grant supports from the Kidney Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Heather Badenoch is a non-directed living liver donor and communications strategist. As the president of Village PR, she provides strategic communications direction and training to not-for-profit clients in community and health. An active transplant volunteer, Heather helps transplant candidates find living donors by running their public appeals, small and large, pro-bono. She also mentors potential living donors on the path to living donation. Heather is a volunteer with the UHN Centre for Living Organ Donation and the Canadian Donation and Transplant Research Program. She and her spouse adopt rescue dogs and volunteer together with Community Veterinary Outreach, a group providing free veterinary care to the pets of people who are homeless.
Sean Dicks is a clinical psychologist who has 20 years’ experience supporting both families of organ donors and transplant recipients. While it is rare for him to have contact with a donor family and recipient linked to the same organ donation-transplantation event, his contact with families who have lived experience with organ donation on the one hand, and patients who have received transplants on the other hand has provided opportunities to explore how their journeys become linked when they attempt to make sense of and find meaning in their respective crises.
Terri Hansen-Gardiner is a Cree speaking Metis woman from Northern Saskatchewan as well as a 10 year Breast Cancer Survivor. Her tireless spirit and dedication to her community is undeniable. Terri is a cancer survivor who travels around the province to provide assistance, information, and support to Indigenous patients who are trying to access and navigate the cancer care system.
Dr. Golnaz Karoubi is Assistant Scientist at the Toronto General HospitalResearch Institute and principal investigator in the Latner Thoracic Research Labs. She currently holds an Assistant Professor appointment in the department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology and a cross-appointment in the department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. Dr. Karoubi received her PhD in Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto and joined the Lung Regenerative Medicine Program in the Department of Clinical Research in Berne University, Switzerland for a post-doctoral research fellowship. She stayed on as a Group Leader in 2008 to direct the basic and transitional science as related to Cancer Stem Cell and Lung Regenerative Medicine in the Department of Biomedical Research at the University of Berne until 2012. In early 2012, she joined the team of Dr. Tom Waddell at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute as a Senior Scientific Associate and was appointed to Assistant Scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute (University Health Network) in November 2019 and to Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology in July 2020.
Dr. Haykal graduated from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine in2007 as class valedictorian and silver medalist, and subsequently completed her residency training in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Toronto in 2016. During her residency, she completed a four-year Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and immunology with a focus on tracheal reconstruction. She obtained numerous grants and awards including a CIHR Vanier Scholarship. Dr. Haykal then pursued fellowship training in microsurgical reconstruction at the Albany Medical Centre in New York. Dr. Haykal joined the University Health Network and the Toronto General Hospital in 2018. Her clinical focus is on complex oncological reconstruction and microsurgical reconstruction of the breast, head and neck and extremity. She started a lymphedema program in 2019 where she offers microsurgical techniques for the treatment of lymphedema.
Dr. Ahmed is a Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. The recipient of the 2022 Hypertension Canada Senior Investigator Award, she is a nephrologist and clinician-scientist with a focus on sex and gender differences in human cardiovascular/kidney physiology and clinical outcomes. Dr. Ahmed is the Vice Chair (Research) for the Department of Medicine, Lead of the Libin Institute Women’s Cardiovascular Health Research Initiative at the University of Calgary and Lead of the Alberta Strategy for Patient Oriented Research Capacity Development Platform. Dr. Ahmed is an Advisory Board member for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Gender and Health, a member of the Canadian Medical Association Journal Governing Council and the President-Elect for the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences.
r. Christopher Nguan is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Urological Sciences, Surgical Head of Kidney Transplantation at Vancouver General Hospital and the Director of the Surgical Technologies Experimental Laboratory & Advanced Robotics (STELLAR) facility at Vancouver General Hospital.
r Caroline Lamarche is a clinician scientist and transplant nephrologist at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. She is an assistant clinical professor at the Université de Montréal. After her nephrology training at the Université de Montréal (2015), she completed a Master degree on the use of adoptive immunotherapy to treat/prevent BK nephropathy in kidney transplant recipients. She then pursued a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Megan Levings at the University of British Columbia on the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) regulatory T cells (Tregs) to induce transplant tolerance. Her lab is working on the development of adoptive immunotherapy in nephrology and understanding Treg dysfunction.
Dr. Tandon is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Co-Director of the Cirrhosis Care Clinic, Transplant Hepatologist and lead of the Cirrhosis Care Alberta quality improvement program. She obtained her training at the University of Alberta, the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona and Yale University. Her clinical practice and research are focused on cirrhosis with research interests including cirrhosis related complications, malnutrition, frailty, exercise therapy, palliative care, integrative health approaches such as meditation and knowledge translation. It is her career goal to provide wholistic, interdisciplinary, evidence based, patient-centered care through education, empowerment, engagement and team-work.
Emily is a PhD student at the University of Alberta, where she completed her Master of Science (MSc) degree in medicine. With a passion for patient-oriented research and a commitment to improving health outcomes, Emily’s doctoral project focuses on EMPOWER, a 12-week online mind-body wellness program designed for adults living with chronic health conditions.
Dr Basil S. Nasir, M.B.B.Ch
Dr. Victor Ferreira is an Assistant Scientist in the Ajmera Transplant Centre at the University Health Network (UHN) and the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute (TGHRI). He is also an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (LMP). He completed his PhD in Medical Sciences – Infection and Immunity Specialization at McMaster University in 2014 and post-doctoral training at UHN. His research program is focused on three pillars: I) using systems vaccinology to reveal insights into vaccine responses in immunocompromised individuals like transplant recipients; II) characterizing the impact of chronic viral infection on host immune responses; and III) developing novel methods for eliminating latent viruses in human organs. His work has been cited >2,500 times and is published in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Immunology, the Lancet Infectious Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases, the American Journal of Transplantation and Journal of Infectious Diseases.