Having signed many firsts in Turkey, Prof. Dr. Ömer Özkan announced that the button was pressed for the transfer from animal to human. Stating that they have made attempts to conduct research for animal-to-human transplantation, Prof. Dr. Ozkan, “We want to create a science valley. We received our support to the extent of our President’s knowledge. Even the tender was created. While we have created the infrastructure for this, we are trying to place the people who will take part in this work here,” he said. said.
“THIS TEAMWORK AND THIS IS A CHAIN”
Performing the first organ transplant in Turkey, Prof. Dr. In memory of Tuncer Karpuzoğlu, Akdeniz University Organ Transplantation Days 40th Anniversary Symposium was organized by Akdeniz University, Turkish Organ Transplantation Organizations Coordination Association, Turkish Hepato Pancreato Biliary Surgery Association and Organ Transplant Coordinators Association. In the symposium, which started in a hotel in Antalya, topics such as organ and tissue transplantation, new generation donor surgery perfusion techniques, immunology, kidney, liver and heart transplantation were discussed.
“5 thousand 216 kidneys, 744 livers, 115 hearts and 12 tissue transplants were carried out”
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the symposium, Akdeniz University Rector Prof. Dr. Özlenen Özkan said that the university has become a brand in organ transplants. Pointing out that the first wave of organ transplants has grown with other transplants, Özkan said, “It was crowned with 5,216 kidney, 744 liver, 115 heart transplants and 12 composite tissue transplants in 40 years. It’s teamwork and it’s a chain,” he said.
ANIMAL TO HUMAN ORGAN TRANSPLANT: IF WE MISS THE TRAIN…
Expressing that he went to the USA a month ago and was jealous of the work there, Özkan said, “We are a great country in organ transplantation, but we are still not in the place where we need to be resourceful. The next process goes from animals to human transplants. Frankly, we’re a little behind on that. We had several projects together with Ömer and Bülent. We were in Ankara for 2 days and had the highest level talks. It is not possible to do without the support of the Ministry of Health and the government. They expressed their support and thank you very much. Yes we are great at the clinic but please we need to speed up the lab work. “We are lagging far behind and if we miss the train, time will not be on our side,” he said.
“WE WILL DO GENETIC AND IMMUNOLOGICAL STUDIES”
Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeon Prof. Dr. Ömer Özkan drew attention to the importance of the symposium and said, “Experts in their fields, experienced in this field, important people from home and abroad took part in this meeting. What is our situation in transportation today, what will be done in the future, let’s not be left behind. We tried to make emphases on that,” he said.
Underlining the need to value laboratory studies, Özkan said that people need organ transplants and this can be done from two options such as organ pool or cadaver. Saying, “The organ pool is small, we have to either make it from living things or from cadavers,” Özkan said, “How can we increase them? Can organs be produced in the future? Or can the lifespan of these organs be extended from other living things or otherwise? You also use drugs for the tissues you transplant, can we reduce the side effects of these drugs, we need to work on them. Making good use of the organ you found, if you can’t find it, what can be the alternatives? We hear around the world, there are issues such as organ transplants from animals to humans. More on that early. In these studies, it is necessary to do not only surgical and macro studies, but also molecular level studies. We will do genetic and immunological studies,” he said.
“WE NEED TO BUILD THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THIS”
Ömer Özkan stated that they recently met with the Ministry of Health and Finance and that they are trying to create a Science Valley at the university and said, “We received our support to the extent of our President’s knowledge. A tender has also been created. While we have created the infrastructure for this, we are trying to place the people who will take part in this work. We need to create support both at home and abroad. We are working hard. The main theme will be on research. Of course, you cannot take a pig’s heart and transplant it, but there will be studies on how to do this or how to harmonize an incompatible tissue. For this, we need to create the infrastructure. As in every stage of science, this should not be neglected,” he said.
Source: UAV