Welcome...

To the inaugural issue of the IIAM eJournal. After several years of producing our printed newsletter - The IIAM Journal, we have transitioned to an all electronic format. We feel this change will speed-up the flow of information to our loyal readers.

This year marks IIAM's 25th anniversary. With offices in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada, IIAM has been serving the medical and scientific communities in the U.S. and abroad by providing non-transplantable human organs and anatomical specimens that are authorized for the purposes of research, education and development.

The research is vast and critical to the better health and quality-of-life for countless people afflicted by disease. Non-transplantable organs and tissues for research make medical advancements possible. IIAM is proud to honor donors' wishes, and support the researchers and their medical discovery endeavors.

To mark this momentous milestone, IIAM is proud to introduce its new logo and accompanying 25th anniversary banner. We feel this logo represents our mission in its purest essence - Linking Organ & Tissue Donation to Medical Discovery.

Look for the new logo on our newly redesigned materials and website in the months to come.

IIAM Research Recovery Workshops

IIAM’s 8th, bi-annual and most successful Research Recovery Workshop to date was held last Monday-Tuesday, June 6-7 at the Medical Education and Research Institute of Nevada (MERIN) in Las Vegas. The workshop was attended by 24 participants composed of surgical staff, perfusionists and cross-trained professionals from the following organ procurement organizations (OPOs): LifeCenter NW, Washington Regional Transplant Community, California Transplant Donor Network, New Mexico Donor Services, The Sharing Network, Living Legacy Foundation, Donor Alliance, LifeLink of Florida and Center for Organ Recovery and Education. Also present to share about their work and specific research needs were scientists from: Life Technologies, nPOD, and Gigacyte.

These 2-day workshops feature 1 day of didactic instruction followed by a full-day of surgical recovery skills training all serving to increase organ recovery and placement for research by teaching the necessary skill sets. Acting more like a well-coordinated team than a mixed group of professionals from around the country, attendees to the June workshop were divided into 4 groups and each assigned a set of organs to recover in the cadaveric lab. Mike Vara, IIAM’s Western Regional Director, expressed appreciation in saying “We are grateful to the 4 individual donors who said “yes” to donation for science and education research … making it possible for us to offer this valuable workshop to our OPO partners.” After completing the Workshop, each participant was eligible to earn 13 hours of CEU/CPTC credits.

Gina Dunne Smith, IIAM’s General Manager who also attends these workshops, commented that “… Mike raises the bar with every workshop and sets new recovery challenges for the group that mimic exactly what our researchers are requesting from the OPOs’ recovery efforts. This ‘real-time/ real-need’ type of training enables participants to go home with a refined perspective of what is needed during the surgical recovery of research organs, and helps ensure the gifts will be utilized as intended … to advance medical research.

Prior to the June 2011 workshop, IIAM held its 7th Research Recovery Workshop also at MERIN on December 6-7, 2010 which was attended by 15 surgical recovery technicians representing 8 different OPOs. It’s a workshop that actually works, Vara noted in explaining that the goal is being reached. “Feedback from our December workshop revealed that OPOs are realizing an increase in organs recovered for research by their staff. Some had already surpassed the total number of research placements for 2010 in only the first few months of 2011!” said Vara, “They directly attribute this increase to the education and surgical lab experience at our workshop.”

For additional information, contact Mike Vara at Mike_Vara@iiam.org

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Donor Memorial Ceremony to Celebrate Life & Honor Families for Their Gifts

IIAM hosted their donor memorial service on Sunday, May 1^st at the University of Scranton in Brennan Hall. Each year, IIAM holds two nondenominational ceremonies to honor recent donors and to recognize their families and loved ones for the remarkable gifts of life and hope. The services are held in Arizona and Pennsylvania, offering opportunities of remembrance for donor families from across the country. In addition to inviting families of donors, IIAM invites local community liaisons and outreach specialists, as well as hospice and OPO representatives.

With a candle-lighting memorial and musical reflection, this touching ceremony offers an opportunity for closure and comfort.

Anyone interested in attending the next ceremony or otherwise being involved should contact Angie Dianese at 570-496-3441.

Newsworthy Numbers!

In 2010, IIAM achieved some new milestones:

• 21% increase in research organ referrals
• 22% increase in research organ placements
  

IIAM would like to acknowledge the donors and their loved ones for enabling nearly 800 organs to benefit medical advancement!

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A Warm Welcome!

IIAM is proud to announce the addition of the following new partnerships:

CTDN – California Transplant Donor Network, San Francisco, CA
FLFH – TransLife, Orlando, FL

Meet the Coordinator

Rick has been a Research Tissue Coordinator for five years. He became involved in the industry because he had always wanted to offer his service to "people who find themselves perhaps at their lowest times in life," and he is grateful to be able to comfort families suffering the loss of a loved one.

In fact, "being there to help others when they most need support and resolution in facing the death of a loved one" is Rick's favorite thing about his job. The most challenging part of Rick’s work is "balancing the loss of life that I see on a daily basis with being at home and embracing life," he explains.

Rick tries to make every moment count when he is not working, and he enjoys many hobbies that include traveling, swimming, camping, and working in the yard.

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Meet Us at the Meetings!

• AOPO
  The Association of Organ Procurement Organizations' annual meeting will take place June 14-17, 2011 in Denver, CO.
• NATCO
  The Organization for Transplant Professionals scheduled its annual meeting for August 13-16 in San Francisco, CA
• AATB
  The American Association of Tissue Banks will hold its annual meeting September 9-12 in Scottsdale, AZ.