The Northwestern Comprehensive Transplant Center:
One Year LaterFriends of the Northwestern Comprehensive Transplant Center (CTC), including patients of the center, members of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Foundation communities and faculty and staff members, gathered on October 18 to learn of updates since the center’s launch in October of 2009. The CTC is located in its new space on the 19th floor of the Arkes Family Pavilion within the Kovler Organ Transplantation Center and represents a tremendous collaborative accomplishment. It focuses on a broad range of exciting areas of investigation essential to advancing the care of patients everywhere with end-stage organ failure, which is among the most devastating diseases both in terms of mortality and in quality of life.  | Dr. Abecassis provided guests with a tour of the new facilities |
Michael Abecassis, MD, MBA, James Roscoe Miller Distinguished Professor, chief of the Division of Organ Transplantation, and director of the Comprehensive Transplant Center, welcomed guests to the beautiful new space and provided a series of remarks about growth within the center since its launch. The center serves as an umbrella for, and catalyst to, a wide range of collaborative and multidisciplinary academic activities within Northwestern and nationally, including the private sector. Among other colleagues, Dr. Abecassis also invited Dixon B. Kaufman, MD, PhD, Fowler McCormick Professor, director of the Pancreas and Islet Cell Transplant Program, and deputy director of the CTC, to share some remarks on his work with colleagues in his area of specialty. Due to the effective framework and collaborative nature of the center, investigators and clinicians from a number of disciplines and scientific backgrounds are able to conduct innovative, high impact research, educate surgeons, physicians, and scientists, and ultimately advance best clinical practices and inform public health policy on an array of transplant-related issues. This fact became apparent as a range of speakers proceeded to share stories and discoveries with the attendees.  | Jayesh Mehta, MD, professor of medicine, chats with Mr. and Mrs. Barry Weiss |
In closing, and before guests were invited to tour the space, Dr. Abecassis brought Mr. Barry Weiss, a patient of the CTC, to the podium to share his story and thoughts on the benefits of the center. Mr. Weiss, who also serves as a resource for Feinberg medical students during their transplant rotation, provided a touching account of his experiences at the CTC, applauding the physician-scientists present for their tireless efforts, truly impacting lives such as his and improving the future for others with their work. | 
