CHANDIGARH, 23.03.26-Organ transplantation remains one of medicine's greatest achievements — and one of its least understood. For millions of Indians living with end-stage organ failure, a transplant represents not merely a treatment but a second life. Yet awareness of transplant sciences, Organ donation, and the complex clinical ecosystem that sustains these programmes remains critically low amongst the public. The policy makers are also aware of increasing numbers of patients and stage organ failure, It has been struggling to initiate organ donation after death across the country. It is precisely this gap that organisations such as the Indian Society of Transplant Surgeons (ISTS) work to bridge — not only by advancing the science among specialists, but by Developing protocols By working with various centers who have achieved success in the field of organ donation and transplantation.

Live operative demonstrations formed the scientific heart of the conference, with sessions spanning laparoscopic donor nephrectomy, standard open and robotic kidney transplantation, and laparoscopic donor hepatectomy — a sweep of technique from time-honoured open surgery to the frontier of robotic transplantation. Moderated by Dr Arun Kapoor and Dr Harsha Jauhari, and enriched by eminent international faculty, the operative sessions sparked lively exchanges on outcomes data, technical variation, and institutional protocols.

The highlight of the Congress was the session on pancreas transplantation where Dr Sanjay Badada highlighted the challenges being faced by patients with Type 1 diabetes, with poor survival once they develop kidney failure. However, outcomes have dramatically changed now with the establishment of pancreas transplantation at PGI with patients now surviving beyond 10 years. This session highlighted different aspects of pancreas transplant, focusing on video demonstration of pancreas retrieval, bench surgery and implantation — alongside panel discussions on perioperative management and allocation policy.

Excellent outcomes of islet cell transplant resulting in cure of diabetes and insulin independence for as long as two decades were presented by Dr Bala from the United States.

The Formal Inauguration Ceremony on the evening of 20th March was a landmark occasion. The Director of PGIMER, Prof Vivek Lal, electrified the gathering with a commitment to establishing a standalone transplant centre at PGIMER — giving institutional form to a long-cherished aspiration of the transplant community. He also expressed heartfelt gratitude to Prof Ashish Sharma for his visionary efforts in furthering transplant education in India, acknowledging that the seeds sown through platforms such as ISTS would shape the specialty for generations to come. Two of the senior residents from the Department of Renal Transplant Surgery, Dr. Kapil Bajaj and Dr. Praneet Reddy were awarded first prize in their respective categories for presenting data on innovative techniques solving the problems being faced by kidney failure patients on dialysis.