All are welcome to attend a lecture by Dr. Heidi Yeh on “Social Determinants of Transplantation Insights into Post-transplant Outcomes.”
Refreshments will be served.
Dr. Heidi Yeh is the Surgical Director of the Pediatric Transplant Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, and has been a member of the Massachusetts General Hospital Division of Transplant Surgery since 2007. She received her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine; she completed both her General Surgery Residency and Transplant Surgery Fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Because her clinical practice also includes adult kidney and liver transplant patients, she has developed a special interest in the process of pediatric patients moving to adult providers and becoming independent in self-care. Her research interests include disparities in access to transplantation care and ex vivo machine perfusion to improve organ quality.
According to Faith Njoku, BRI-UC Irvine chapter founder and president, and event organizer:
There is currently growing evidence that convey how powerful a role social and environmental factors, referred to as social determinants of health, shape disease patterns and outcomes. The World Health Organization has defined the social determinants of health as ‘‘the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age.’’ In both the developing and the developed world, social determinants likely have a greater influence on health and disease than medical care alone. The social determinants of health are significant components in the pathway of disease and outcomes. By focusing on these determinants in the context of liver disease it will offer insight into how to strategically improve health outcomes for patients with end-stage liver disease in the United States.
Post transplant outcomes are associated with social determinants. Lower socioeconomic status is associated with an increased risk for death 2 years after transplantation. However market competition may influence transplantation and outcomes. Donor service areas may function as markets and transplant center density has a huge impact on liver transplant and post-transplant outcomes. Since allocation is linked to geography how can we use geography to properly understand and optimize post-op and chronic care treatment?
Click to read the entire Dr. Heidi Yeh abstract for this event.
