DLE 2025 Pediatric Liver Transplant Consensus Meeting
Title: Global Pediatric Liver Transplant Allocation: Enhancing Equity Through Prioritization, Split Liver Utilization, Innovation, and Living Donor Liver Transplantation (LDLT)
Date: November 14, 2025
Endorsing Societies
- The Transplantation Society (TTS)
- International Liver Transplant Society (ILTS)
- Society of Pediatric Liver Transplant (SPLIT)
Key Objectives
- Address regional disparities in pediatric liver transplant access
- Define global best practices for pediatric prioritization in liver allocation.
- Develop a strategic roadmap to integrate LDLT into pediatric transplant systems in regions without deceased donation.
- Advocate for policy changes to improve pediatric liver transplant outcomes through both deceased and living donor strategies ensuring equitable access worldwide.
- Evaluate innovative strategies to expand the pediatric donor pool, including DCD utilization, machine perfusion, and selective ABO-incompatible grafts
Structure & Working Group Model
We utilize a Hybrid Consensus Model (Danish Model) incorporating:
- Pre-Meeting Delphi-Based Expert Input (to define key issues).
- Structured Working Group Discussions (to refine recommendations).
- Consensus Voting and Policy Formulation (to establish clear guidelines for implementation).
Working Groups
- Working Group 1: Ethical, Legal, and Policy Considerations in Pediatric Liver Transplantation
- Working Group 2: Pediatric Prioritization in Liver Allocation (Deceased Donors)
- Working Group 3: Enhancing LDLT for Pediatric Liver Transplantation in LMICs
- Working Group 4: Innovations in Graft Utilization and Donor Strategies for Pediatric Liver Transplantation
Post-Meeting Phase
- Consensus recommendations will be consolidated into a formal document.
- Publication in a leading transplant journal will be pursued.
- A task force will be created to monitor and advocate for policy implementation.
Leadership Structure
Advisory/Strategic Co-Leaders
- Dr. John Fung – President, TTS; Chief of Transplant Surgery, University of Chicago, USA
- Dr. George Mazariegos – Chief of Pediatric Transplantation, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, USA
- Dr. Sandy Feng – UCSF, USA, Editor in Chief, American Journal of Transplantation
Chairs
- Dr. Simon Horslen – Medical Director of Pediatric Liver Transplant, UPMC, USA & Past President of SPLIT
- Dr. Ahmed Elsabbagh – Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Scientific Committee (Alphabetical)
- Dr. Abdul Rahman Hakeem – UK
- Dr. Dieter Broering – KSA
- Dr. Dierdre Kelly – UK
- Dr. Hermien Hartog – Netherlands
- Dr. Manuel Rodriguez-Davalos – Mexico
- Dr. Mohammed Rela – India
- Dr. Mureo Kasahara – Japan
- Dr. Varia Kirchner – USA
- Dr. Vicky Ng – Canada
- Dr. Wojciech Polak – Netherlands
Jury Panel
Chair
Dr. John Fung – President, TTS
Vice-Chairs
- Dr. Mostafa Elshazly- Cairo University
- Dr. Medhat Askar – Chair, WHO Committee, TTS
- Dr. Valeria Mas – President of ILTS
Members
- Dr. Mahmoud Elmeteini – Ain Shams University
- Dr. Maye Hasaballa – Cairo University
- Dr. Mohammed Hani Hafiz – President of AFRAN
- Dr. Osama Gaber – USA
- Dr. Refaat Kamel – Ain Shams University
Working Group 1: Ethical, Legal, and Policy Considerations
Co-Chairs
- Dr. Elizabeth Rand – CHOP, USA
- Dr. Rachel Smith – UPMC, USA
Members
- Dr. Axel Rahmel – Germany
- Dr. Marieke T. de Boer – Netherlands
- Dr. Matthew Cooper – USA
- Dr. Rebecca Mercedes – USA
- Dr. Scott W. Biggins – USA
- Prof. S. Matthew Liao – USA
Working Group 2: Pediatric Prioritization in Liver Allocation
Co-Chairs
- Dr. Abdul Rahman Hakeem – UK
- Dr. Irini Batsis – USA
Members
- Dr. Akinari Fukuda – Japan
- Dr. Amelia Hessheimer – Spain
- Dr. Bandar Aljidaibi – KSA
- Dr. Emily Perito – USA
- Dr. Evelyn Hsu – USA
- Dr. Greg Tiao – USA
- Dr. James Squires – USA
- Dr. Kukin Xie – China
- Dr. Kyle Soltys – USA
- Dr. Marco Spada – Italy
- Dr. Mohammed Maklad – USA
- Dr. Mustafa Nazzal – USA
- Dr. Peter Abt – USA
- Dr. Rebeca Sanabria Mateos – UK
- Dr. Samir Abu-Ghazala – USA
Working Group 3: Enhancing LDLT for Pediatric Liver Transplantation in LMICs
Co-Chairs
- Dr. Hossam Hamed – Egypt
- Dr. Ashwin Rammohan – India
- Dr. Nicolas Goldaracena – Canada
Members
- Dr. Vicky Ng – Canada
- Dr. Francisco Calderon Novoa – Canada
- Dr. Zhi-Jun Zhu – China
- Dr. Ahmed Marwan – Egypt / UAE
- Dr. Ahmed Adawy – Japan
- Dr. Sanghoon Lee – South Korea
- Dr. Hany Abdelbaset – Egypt
- Dr. Ahmed Elgendi – Egypt
- Dr. Mohammed Abdelrazek – Egypt
- Dr. Priya Walabh – South Africa
- Dr. João Seda Neto – Brazil
- Dr. Norman Junge – Germany
- Dr. Sadhana Shankar – UK
Working Group 4: Innovations in Graft Utilization & Donor Strategies
Co-Chairs
- Dr. Varvara Kirchner – USA
- Dr. Mohamed Shagrani – KSA
Members
- Dr. Ahmed Nassar – USA
- Dr. Alba Bueno Jiménez – UK
- Dr. Audrey Coilly – France
- Dr. Jean de Ville de Goyet – Italy
- Dr. Mohammed Shaear – USA
- Dr. Tyler York – USA
- Dr. Vidyadhar Mali – Singapore
- Dr. Zhiyong Guo – China
