Westmead Institute for Medical Research

Mind the Gap: Disparities in Education on Organ Donation and Transplantation-Results of a Global Survey.

Background: Widely accessible education on organ donation and transplantation (ODT) is a tool to reduce waiting lists, as <10% of transplant needs are met (Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation). We aimed to assess the current state of access to education on ODT worl...

Acceptance of Organs From Deceased Donors: Results of a Global Survey.

Background: With <10% of transplantation needs being met, one contributing factor may be the potential subjectivity in transplant specialists' acceptance of organs. Such decisions, if influenced by knowledge and/or comfort gaps, warrant intervention. We assessed knowledge and com...

Investigating the role of excipients in mitigating surface adsorption, aggregation and structural degradation in liquid phage formulations

The race to produce therapeutically acceptable phages is driven by their rapid loss of infectivity, placing strain on laboratories, healthcare infrastructure and patients. Enhancing product shelf-life will alleviate this barrier to their upscaling and clinical application. We sys...

Library strategies differentially shape microbial, functional, and host signals in clinical metagenomic sequencing

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is increasingly used in infectious disease diagnostics, yet how library preparation shapes the microbial, functional, and host signals recovered from clinical samples remains poorly defined. Here, we performed a within-sample parallel...

ANZTCT cytomegalovirus practice survey for allogeneic haemopoietic stem cell transplant and cellular therapy recipients in Australia and New Zealand

BACKGROUND: Despite pre-emptive treatment (PeT), cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease and reactivation remain a clinical concern. In Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), variability exists in the management of CMV for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients. AIMS AND METH...

A serum protein–to–bilirubin ratio predicts immune-mediated hepatotoxicity in lung cancer patients treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have transformed outcomes for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) but are associated with immune-related adverse events, including hepatotoxicity. Immune-mediated liver injury can necessitate treatment interruption and imm...

A multi-centre study of belatacept and sirolimus for islet transplantation

Abstract Aims/hypothesis Islet transplantation is an appropriate treatment for selected individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus and hypoglycaemia unawareness. The gold standard of maintenance immunosuppression to prevent allograft rejection is calcineurin inhibitor-based therap...

Clearance of Treponema pallidum from oral and anal sites after treatment of secondary syphilis: results from a multi-centre, prospective, cross-sectional study

Background Syphilis is increasing worldwide, and secondary syphilis may represent its most infectious stage. Scarce data exist on Treponema pallidum clearance after treatment. We aimed to determine the frequency and load of T. pallidum mucosal shedding, and time to clearance foll...

Outcomes following dialysis and transplantation in amyloidosis: ANZDATA analysis

Abstract Background The kidneys are frequently affected by systemic amyloidosis. Despite this, contemporary survival outcomes for patients reaching kidney failure due to amyloidosis remain poorly defined relative to other causes of kidney failure. This study aims to characterise...