Academy: Highlights Day
Transmedcon 2023 the 11th Annual National Conference of the ISTM
Ratti Ram Sharma
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
The 11th Annual National Conference of Indian Society of Transfusion Medicine (ISTM) - TRANSMEDCON 2023 was held at Hyatt Regency Hotel, Chandigarh, India from the 3rd – 5th of November 2023.
Rajendra Chaudhary, shared his journey of ‘Development of Immunohematology at SGPGI: from serology to molecular level’.
This conference was jointly organized by the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh and the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Government Medical College, and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh (India). Around 600 delegates participated in the conference and 130 guest faculties deliberated on various aspects of transfusion medicines in this two and half day, scientific event.
The ISTM President, Debasish Gupta, Head of Department of Transfusion Medicine, Sree Chitra, Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram (India) delivered the welcome address. During the conference, B.C. Sangal Oration presented to the guests and a report was delivered by Rajendra Chaudhary, where he shared his journey of ‘Development of Immunohematology at SGPGI: from serology to molecular level’. There were JG Jolly and VL Ray Awards given to two best scientific research papers submitted to the conference. There were around 235 scientific paper presentations by the delegates which highlighted the diverse research work being done in the field of transfusion medicine in India.
Delegates in a session
The conference was a memorable scientific event giving the delegates a thoroughly engaging experience and an opportunity for learning and empowering them with knowledge of scientific developments in our field. Of special interest was the ‘ISBT Highlights’ session where eminent speakers from the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT), The Netherlands delivered the invited talks on the technological developments and advances in the field of transfusion medicine.
Inauguration ceremony
The first session included talks on ‘ISBT the global knowledge network for Transfusion Medicine’ by Lin Fung (Australia), ‘Human Blood groups and diseases’ by Jill Storry (Sweden), Discovery of new antigens and antibody specificities related to ABO system: Implications for efforts to create ABO - universal red cell transfusion’ by Martin Olsson (Sweden) and ‘The contribution and potential of older blood donors in Asia Pacific regions’ by Lin Fung (Australia). The session was chaired by Rajendra Chaudhary and Debasish Gupta. During the second session of ISBT Highlights interesting talks were delivered by Mickey Koh (United Kingdom) on ‘Pros and Cons of Novel stem cell therapies’, by Jill Storry (Sweden) on ‘Molecular tools to resolve Immunohematology problems’, by Martin Olsson (Sweden) on ‘CD36 - clinical and molecular implications of our newest blood group system’ and by Lin Fung on ‘An update of Transfusion related acute lung injury (TRALI) pathways’. The session was chaired by Ratti Ram Sharma and Brig. P.S. Dhot.
ISBT speakers at the conference
Overall, the conference included significant deliberations by the eminent faculty and speakers from various premier institutes across the country to share their experiences and research work on a wide variety of topics including- Safe and sustainable blood supply, Transfusion Medicine education, New insights in Immunohematology, Evidence based transfusion to challenges, Platelet transfusion therapy, Transfusion dependent disorders, Neonatal and Pediatric Transfusion practices, Expanding horizons in Therapeutic Plasma Exchange, Exploring new frontiers in Stem cell therapy, Recent Advances and Innovations, Hemotherapy and Clinical Transfusion Practice, Transfusion and transplantation, Understanding quality, Transfusion transmitted infections prevention, Hemovigilance, Regulatory and Ethical aspects in Transfusion Medicine and Building academic research skills.
The participants actively interacted and had fruitful discussions with the guest faculty making this scientific event a success. The ISBT Highlights Day was very well received and highly appreciated by the delegates as it gave them the opportunity to listen and interact with the eminent international faculty.
