2025 Webinar Series: The Impact and Causes of Diseases Transmitted by Tissue & Cell Transplantation (Group)

Description: This webinar will discuss the impacts and causes of diseases that have been transmitted by tissue and cell transplantation, including semen and eye tissue, concentrating on infections, and briefly comparing them with the diseases that have been transmitted by organ transplantation, blood transfusion, and marrow transplantation. How tissue banks handled the investigation of some of the fatal cases in the past will be discussed; the recent fatal and nonfatal tuberculosis transmissions will be covered. How these transmissions were discovered clinically and the importance of biovigilance and the responsibilities of surgeons will be covered briefly.

Target Audience: This webinar is for professionals responsible for screening donors for eligibility and persons involved in donor chart review including physician and non-physician reviewers.

David T. Eastlund, MD

University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Dept of Pathology

University of New Mexico School of Medicine

D. Ted Eastlund, MD, has been a tissue banker and member of AATB for over 40 years, has been an AATB VP, president and chair of the AATB Board of Governors and has served on several committees. He was awarded AATB’s Kenneth W Sell Distinguished Service Award. In the early 2000s he led an AATB effort to investigate the fatal transmission of clostridium through tissue which resulted in changes in standards. He has been a medical director of a multi-tissue bank, semen bank, hospital tissue service, human milk bank, an embryo storage service, an OPO, fetal tissue bank, cord blood bank, blood bank and was national medical officer American Red Cross Tissue Services. For decades his interest in tissue and organ-transmitted diseases has led to testifying before congress, serving on an FDA Advisory Committee and giving invited lectures in 25 countries. He currently is medical director of the tissue bank at the University of New Mexico Hospital.