Editorial introductions.

Abstract

Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation was launched in 1996. It is part of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of organ transplantation is divided into 18 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Linda S. SherLinda S. SherDr Linda S. Sher is Professor of Clinical Surgery and Director of Clinical Research in the Division of Hepatobiliary Surgery and Abdominal Organ Transplantation at Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC), USA. After completing her medical school education and surgical residency at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, USA, Dr Sher undertook her fellowship training in Liver and Kidney Transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. After completing her fellowship in 1988, Dr Sher was involved in the establishment of two liver transplant programs in Los Angeles prior to joining the USC program in 2001. Dr Sher has participated in and overseen over 50 research projects and is currently very active in the development of the clinical and basic science research components of the USC Abdominal Organ Transplantation Program. She has numerous publications on immunosuppression, chronic rejection, disease recurrence, infection, and hepatobiliary surgery. Dr Sher is one of the original editors of Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation and has endeavored over the years to provide the reader with an up to date overview of the entire field of organ transplantation. Paulo N. MartinsPaulo N. MartinsDr Paulo N. Martins MD, PhD, FAST, FEBS, FACS is a transplant surgeon (Associate Professor of Surgery) and has a transplant lab focused on liver preservation at University of Massachusetts, USA. He graduated from medical school in Brazil, where he ranked first. He finished his PhD in transplant immunology at the University of Berlin-Germany in 2005 with “Summa cum Laude” and worked clinically in Berlin, Germany (Charite’-Virchow Klinikum) for over a year. He completed a post-doc research fellowship at the Brigham and Women Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard University, in Boston-USA, and later did a clinical hepatobiliary and Transplant Fellowship at the New York Medical School, followed by other clinical transplant fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University, followed by one year as clinical instructor in the same institution. Since 2013, Dr. Martins has been working as a transplant Surgeon at the University of Massachusetts. During his career he has obtained several research awards (including the ILTS rising star award, ASTS vanguard award, ASTS rising star award, AST basic science award, an AASLD grant, and the Portuguese-American Scientific leadership award) and grants. He is the vice-chair of the ILTS Basic and Translational Science committee, associate editor of the journal "Artificial Organs, an editorial board member/reviewer of 15 scientific journals, and member of several transplant societies including (ILTS, ESOT, AST, ASTS, DTG, AASLD). Dr. Martins has published 107 peer-reviewed articles (with over 3,500 citations), one textbook, 16 book chapters, and over 100 abstracts in scientific meeting and medical journals. He has been part of Diversity committee at his institution, he is co-chair of the ASTS diversity committee, and chair of the UNOS/OPTN Minority Affairs Committee. He has been part of several initiatives to increase equity in transplantation access (e.g. policies to collect socio-economic data and to eliminate the black race coefficient for eGFR calculation, adjustments/provisions in organ allocation policies, guidelines about listing of patients with cognitive impairment among others). He is also part of the bold against racism task-force in the ASTS that aims to increase representation and equity for the transplant workforce, to build inclusive work environments, and provide culturally sensitive training. He published several articles in this field and this year he was nominated by the University of Massachusetts to the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society.