How Scientists Hope to Retrain the Immune System After Organ Transplant

What if transplant patients could one day live free from lifelong anti-rejection drugs? 

In this episode of Mayo Clinic's Tomorrow’s Cure, host Lindsey Seavert speaks with Timucin Taner, M.D., Ph.D. from Mayo Clinic and Angus Thomson, Ph.D. from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center about one of the biggest goals in transplant medicine: teaching the immune system to accept a donated organ instead of attacking it. From the liver’s unique ability to promote immune tolerance to promising cell therapies and donor-derived treatments, the conversation explores how researchers are working to retrain the immune system, reduce side effects, and improve long-term outcomes for transplant recipients. Along the way, they discuss the future of kidney, heart, and lung transplantation, the promise of xenotransplantation, and how breakthroughs in transplant science may also help advance treatment for autoimmune disease.

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