|
American Foundation for Donation &
Transplantation
SCIENCE
One of the benefits of AFDT membership is the ability, through data
collection and analysis, to perform research activities in the field of
transplantation. Research activities include retrospective review of
clinical data and prospective multi-center clinical trials.
The AFDT kidney transplant database, which was established in 1977 and
contains data on over 20,000 patients, is one of the premier resources in
the field. AFDT also has access to liver, pancreas and thoracic data
collected by UNOS for member institutions that is also available for
scientific analysis. These databases are updated regularly and are
available for analysis by AFDT committees and members at no additional
cost.
Since 1971, AFDT members have published over 90 articles in peer reviewed
journals utilizing the AFDT databases. Most of these publications are the
result of studies approved by the Scientific Affairs Committee (SAC). The
SAC reviews all study proposals for relevance and scientific merit. It also
reviews research progress and protocol compliance at each tri-annual
meeting.
More recently, AFDT has become involved in the design, conduct and
analysis of multi-center clinical trials of new and innovative drug
therapies for the organ transplantation community and post-marketing
studies of currently available drug therapies. The AFDT Clinical Trials
Committee is comprised of specialists in many fields of transplantation.
Recent study sponsors include Upjohn, Fujisawa USA and SangStat Medical
Corporation.
SEOPF has access to both permanent staff and consultant statisticians to
assist in the design and analysis of scientific studies. AFDT has an
extensive background with the statistical analysis of transplant and
histocompatibility data. The statistical services of AFDT are available to
members, at no cost, to analyze data, either as an approved scientific
study or as a single center analysis. Assistance in the design of
scientific studies, including sample size and power calculations, is also
provided free of charge.
|