September 15, 2000

Members of the MGH Transplant Unit played a prominent role in the International Congress of the Transplantation Society held Aug. 27 to Sept. 1 in Rome. Megan Sykes, MD, was elected to the Society Council, joining David Sachs, MD, director of the MGH Transplantation Biology Research Center, and A. Benedict Cosimi, MD, chief of the MGH Transplant Unit, on the 12-member governing board. The biannual congress is the premier forum for the presentation of basic and clinical research related to organ transplantation. Members of the MGH Transplant Unit presented five invited lectures, 28 oral presentations and chaired six of the 42 forum sessions.

Pope John Paul II visited the Congress to offer the support of the Roman Catholic Church for organ donation and transplantation. He endorsed the need for basic and clinical research in transplantation. Cosimi (shown below with Pope John Paul II) and Sachs had the opportunity to meet the pontiff personally at the Congress.

Cosimi, right, meets Pope John Paul II at transplant forum.