Dear Colleagues and Distinguished Faculty,
It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you all to the Lung Transplantation Master Class 2026 at the KIMS Hospitals, Institute of Heart and Lung Transplantation, Secunderabad.
End-stage lung diseases represent a rapidly growing burden in India, driven by factors such as interstitial lung disease, COPD, post-tuberculosis sequelae, pulmonary hypertension and other chronic respiratory disorders. Despite this increasing burden, awareness about organ donation and lung transplantation remains limited among patients, family members and healthcare professionals, leading to delayed referrals and missed opportunities for life-saving therapy.
Establishing and sustaining a high-volume lung transplantation program in India comes with unique challenges — including donor availability, logistics, financial constraints, infrastructure development, multidisciplinary team training and post-transplant long-term care. Overcoming these barriers requires commitment, collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning.
At KIMS Hospitals, we are proud to have built India's leading lung transplantation programs. Our center now performs an average of 100 lung transplants annually and has completed more than 700 thoracic organ transplants to date, reflecting our team's dedication to advancing transplant care in the country and improving outcomes for patients with end-stage lung disease.
This Master Class represents an important platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences, especially through interaction with highly experienced centers from the Western world and stalwarts in the field of lung transplantation. Learning from global best practices, while adapting them to the Indian context, is essential for the continued growth and success of lung transplantation programs in our region.
This program offers a unique opportunity for all attendees to learn from a highly acclaimed international faculty, engage in meaningful discussions, and gain insights into real-world challenges and solutions specific to the Indian scenario. I am confident that this Master Class will foster collaboration, inspire innovation, and contribute to the further development of lung transplantation in India and beyond.
I warmly welcome you all and look forward to an enriching, interactive, and impactful academic experience.
With warm regards,
Dr. Sandeep Attawar
Program Director
Institute of Heart and Lung Transplantation
KIMS Hospitals, Secunderabad.
Chairman & Managing Director
KIMS Group of Hospitals
Program Director & Chair
Thoracic Organ Transplantation, Assist Devices
KIMS Heart & Lung Transplant Institute
| Time | Topic | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00AM - 9:15AM | Donor Assessment & Optimisation | |
| 8:00AM - 8:20AM | Optimisation of marginal donors - ventilatory strategies, infection control, fluid mx, latest in preservation solutions and techniques | Dr. Nirmal S. Sharma |
| 8:20AM - 8:40AM | How 10 degree preservation has changed donor Lung Management - Molecular basis, current evidence of prolonged preservation, Lung Tx as day procedure. | Dr. Harish Seethamraju |
| 8:40AM - 9:00AM | DCD Donation / NRP: Techniques and Management | Dr. Ankit Bharat |
| 9:00AM - 9:15AM | Discussion | |
| 9:15AM - 9:25AM | Introduction | Dr. Harish Seethamraju |
| 9:25AM - 9:40AM | Inauguration | |
| 9:40AM - 10:10AM | Bacteriophage Therapy - Phage is the Rage | |
| 9:40AM - 9:55AM | Bacteriophage therapy for MDR Infections - Challenges & Opportunities | |
| 9:55AM - 10:10AM | Bringing Phage Therapy to India Panel Discussion: Dr. Harish Seethamraju, Dr. Camille N. Kotton, Dr. Chandrabali Ghose, Dr. Pratik Patil, Dr. Vijil Rahulan |
|
| 10:10AM - 10:25AM | Tea Break | |
| 10:25AM - 11:35PM | Donor Recipient Matching | |
| 10:25AM - 10:45AM | ECMO bridge to Tx: Focus on reducing bleeding, sensitisation & RV dysfn | Prof. Mattieu Schmidt |
| 10:45AM - 11:05AM | Future of EVLP- from bench to bedside | Dr. Scott Scheinin |
| 11:05AM - 11:35AM | Donor / Recipient Size and Gender Matching: pTLC vs CT volumetry Panel Discussion: Dr. Marie M. Budev, Dr. Peter Jaksch, Dr. Harish Seethamraju, Dr. Gundeep Dhillon |
|
| 11:35AM - 12:50PM | Histocompatibility Issues | |
| 11:35AM - 11:55AM | HLA matching and compatibility: Traditional methods vs Epitope /Eplet matching |
Dr. Eric Spierings |
| 11:55AM - 12:15PM | Desensitisation strategies and evidence-based review of its short and long term impact | Dr. Harish Seethamraju |
| 12:15PM - 12:35PM | T-cell epitopes and risk classification in solid organ transplantation: status and future perspectives | Dr. Eric Spierings |
| 12:35PM - 12:50PM | Discussion | |
| 12:50PM - 1:35PM | Lunch Break | |
| 1:35PM - 2:35PM | Operative Challenges | |
| 1:35PM - 1:55PM | Art and science of Lung sizing and tailoring | Dr. Konrad Hoetzenecker |
| 1:55PM - 2:15PM | Intra OP Anaesthesia challanges: What is new | Dr. Archer K Martin |
| 2:15PM - 2:35PM | High-risk Surgical cases in Lung Transplantation | Dr. Scott Scheinin |
| 2:35PM - 2:50PM | Discussion | |
| 2:50PM - 3:05PM | Tea Break | |
| 3:05PM - 4:45PM | PGD and Perioperative strategies | |
| 3:05PM - 3:35PM | PGD; Molecular basis, prevention and treatment strategies | Dr. Ankit Bharat |
| 3:35PM - 3:55PM | Post op ICU MX: fluid, ionotrope, ventilator, effective use of Bipap therapy vs HFNC Post-Op | Prof. Mattieu Schmidt |
| 3:55PM - 4:15PM | Peri operative recipient nutrition management | Prof. Mattieu Schmidt |
| 4:15PM - 4:45PM | Debate: Induction Therapy in Lung transplantation - Dealing with sensitized pt Panel Discussion: Dr. Nirmal S. Sharma, Dr. Peter Jaksch, Dr. Harish Seethamraju, Dr. Gundeep Dhillon |
|
| 4:45PM - 6:00PM | Early Graft dysfunction | |
| 4:45PM - 5:05PM | AMR Treatment: Role of newer agents like carfilzomib, daratumumab, imlifidase | Dr. Marie M. Budev |
| 5:05PM - 5:25PM | Non HLA Ab in Solid Organ Tx / DSA Neg AMR | Dr. Nirmal S. Sharma |
| 5:25PM - 5:45PM | Prevention and Management of airway complications | Dr. Harish Seethamraju |
| 5:45PM - 6:00PM | Discussion | |
| Time | Topic | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30AM - 10:25AM | Late Graft dysfn | |
| 8:30AM - 8:50AM | Monitoring immunosuppression and complications (includes TTV, reducing, renal complications and cytopenias, role of everolimus) | Dr. Peter Jaksch |
| 8:50AM - 9:10AM | GERD post transplant : medical and surgical modalities to prevent CLAD | Dr. Nirmal S. Sharma |
| 9:10AM - 9:30AM | CLAD : early detection (IOS, CT densitometry, bio markers) and NEW therapeutic agents | Dr. Peter Jaksch |
| 9:30AM - 9:50AM | Monitoring Lung graft function with cfDNA : whats new | Dr. Sean Agbor |
| 9:50AM - 10:10AM | ECP in CLAD: Strategies (treatment to prevention) | Dr. Peter Jaksch |
| 10:10AM - 10:25AM | Discussion | |
| 10:25AM - 10:40AM | Tea Break | |
| 10:40AM - 12:40PM | Special situations | |
| 10:40AM - 11:00AM | Lung Tx for Cancer: New insights | Dr. Ankit Bharat |
| 11:00AM - 11:20AM | Lung Tx for scleroderma / inflammatory myositis: Risk assessment, post op strategies |
Dr. Marie M. Budev |
| 11:20AM - 11:40AM | Lung Transplantation - Sternum Sparing Incisions, Minimally Invasive Lung Tx, Fast-Track Recovery | Dr. Konrad Hoetzenecker |
| 11:40AM - 12:00PM | Lung Tx for Short Telomere Syndrome, TA-TMA | Dr. Marie M. Budev |
| 12:00PM - 12:20PM | All about retransplantation: Focus on pt selection, intra and post op teaching PNTS | Dr. Konrad Hoetzenecker |
| 12:20PM - 12:40PM | Multiorgan TX: Lessons learnt - lung liver, lung kidney | Dr. Scott Scheinin |
| 12:40PM - 1:00PM | Discussion | |
| 1:00PM - 1:45PM | Lunch Break | |
| 1:45PM - 4:15PM | Infectious Diseases | |
| 1:45PM - 2:05PM | Infection prophylaxis in lung transplant: How much and how long in a middle income high populous country setting | Dr. Camille N. Kotton |
| 2:05PM - 2:25PM | Newer Antibiotics And applications of Rapid Molecular Diagnostics for MDR pathogens in immunosuppressed host | Dr. Vasant C. Nagvekar |
| 2:25PM - 2:45PM | Fungal Infections Post Lung Tx: Focus on Aspergillus & Mucor | Dr. Camille N. Kotton |
| 2:45PM - 3:05PM | Post Lung Transplant Mycobacterial Infections - TB & NTM (Focus on M.Abscessus) | Dr. Silvia Vidal Campos |
| 3:05PM - 3:25PM | Viral infections in SOT with focus on lungs (CMV, EBV, CARV, BK Virus) | Dr. Camille N. Kotton |
| 3:25PM - 3:45PM | The Lung Microbiome in Transplantation: Current understanding & future clinical applications | Dr. Silvia Vidal Campos |
| 3:45PM - 4:15PM | Discussion | |
| 4:15PM - 4:30PM | Tea Break | |
| 4:30PM - 5:30PM | PAH | |
| 4:30PM - 4:50PM | PAH : State of the art therapy, emerging drugs and devices | Dr. Gundeep Dhillon |
| 4:50PM - 5:10PM | Transplantation for PAH- ECMO bridging and post op ICU management | Dr. Gundeep Dhillon |
| 5:10PM - 5:30PM | Discussion | |
| 5:30PM - 6:10PM | Future | |
| 5:30PM - 5:50PM | HLA leader peptides: A bridge between innate immunity and transplant outcome? | Dr. Eric Spierings |
| 5:50PM - 6:10PM | Exosomes and other biomarkers of the future | Dr. Sean Agbor |
Date: 20th August 2026 (Thursday) | Time: 7PM - 9PM
Venue: The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace, Madhapur, Telangana, India.
Lung Cancer 360º India brings together global expertise to redefine the continuum of lung cancer care - introducing the DREAM paradigm in transplant oncology, led by Dr. Ankit Bharat (Northwestern University, Chicago).
In Collaboration with
For more details, contact Dr. Rushi Rabari: +91 93167 08266
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