Guidelines and Program Overview

We wish to point out the following to Paired Transplant Centers program participants:

The TTS-ILTS Paired Transplant Centers Program has been developed jointly by The Transplantation Society (TTS) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS). It supports new state-sponsored liver transplant centers in emerging economies by funding mentoring links with established units. It will facilitate communication and guidance in the early months and years of a new program to ensure success in regions of the world with little or no current access to transplantation.

The financial support (budget) and services (in–kind donations) provided by TTS and ILTS are only intended to provide a framework among the Centers and to reinforce the goodwill that stems from the Supporting Transplant Center. TTS and ILTS funding is not intended to form the sole basis of what should ideally be a long lasting and fruitful collaboration between the Centers. The grant funds must only be used for the educational activities agreed upon jointly by the Paired Transplant Centers and carried out at the initiative of either the Emerging Centers or Supporting Centers in the context of the Paired Transplant Centers Program and cannot be used for the private benefit of any institution. TTS and ILTS’ support cannot carry all expenses linked to the development of an Emerging Centers and the joint activities undertaken between Centers.

TTS and ILTS require the pairs to be responsible by respecting the formalities and deadlines described in this document in order to ensure the provision of our support. TTS-ILTS staff will not send multiple reminders and follow-ups in order for TTS-ILTS to be able to provide you with a unique opportunity for support and development via funding.

These guidelines will refer to the Supporting Centers as ‘SC’, the Emerging Centers as ‘EC’.

All forms referred to in these guidelines can be downloaded from the Paired Transplant Centers Webpage on the TTS website and ILTS website.
For any additional details or inquiries, please always contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

1. Objectives

The Paired Transplant Centers Program has a series of progressive steps associated with increasing funding as the partnership between the EC and SC grows. The steps to Level 2 and Level 3 are competitive and are awarded according to achievement at Level 1 and 2 respectively. Normally each stage lasts for 2 years and the initial Level 1 stage comes with limited funding and should be used as an exploratory phase to investigate feasibility of a training link and establish a program of joint interaction for the multidisciplinary team from both the EC and SC. The diagram below provides an overview of the progressive nature of the Paired Transplant Centers Program and eligibility levels.

The ultimate goal is for Level 3 Centers to graduate and become true local Centers of excellence for regional training and support.

The TTS-ILTS Paired Transplant Centers program aims at enhancing the clinical practice of transplantation at Emerging Centers through a variety of training exchanges between SC and EC.

2. Progress Reports & Upgrade

In order for the Paired Transplant Centers Committee to evaluate the level of activity and commitment between the Paired Centers as well as to assess the appropriate use of the funding, the 1-Level Centers are required to submit an annual report at the end of the year. The report constitutes the basis for granting priorities or upgrades at a later stage as well as releasing further funding.
The report should include all activities undertaken between the Centers and describe the support that has already been provided. An analysis of what has been achieved and how the status of the EC has progressed would provide a very helpful insight to the Paired Transplant Centers Committee.
The progress reports will be very short and will address the following items:

  • Names of persons involved
  • Dates
  • Budget breakdown for each activity and brief description
  • Confirmation of forthcoming activities (incl. names, dates, required budget)

Please note that the report constitutes the primary basis to review pairs’ achievements. The Paired Transplant Centers committee takes indeed into account the annual report of the year before and the proposed budget plan at the time of reviewing applications for upgrades. Therefore, we remind you that the scoring parameters for upgrades are greatly influenced by previous activities and results.
Suitability for upgrade will be determined considering the following:

Key 3 criteria 

  1. Clinical staff training: Multidisciplinary training exchanges between the EC and the SC, senior scholarship visits from the SC to the EC
  2. Education: Local and regional CMEs, provision of education materials at the EC, attendance on training courses whilst on training attachments at the SC
  3. Upgrade of clinical services: Evidence of expansion of local and regional clinical transplantation facilities and services

Secondary criteria:

  1. Community-orientation including evidence of participation in World Kidney Day
  2. Clinical research activities at the EC
  3. Relay of knowledge through regional, national and international meetings and publications

Please note that the Paired Transplant Centers Committee has the possibility of extending the duration of the Paired Transplant Centers Level of an individual pair for longer than 2 years under exceptional circumstances at the Committee’s discretion.

3: Explanation of Financial Support and Guidelines

The TTS-ILTS Paired Transplant Centers Program is bound by a limited budget which it cannot exceed. This budget is divided over all center pairs who receive a different financial allocation dependant on their level within the program.

  • Level 1 pairs receive an annual allocation of maximum $3,500 USD
  • Level 2 pairs receive an annual allocation of maximum $12,000 USD
  • Level 3 pairs receive an annual allocation of maximum $15,000 USD

Standard formats that are approved for support are for instance:

  • Travels from EC to SC (training visits, short team training visits, etc.)
  • Travels from SC to EC (senior scholarship visit)
  • Travel grants or supplements (limited to 10% of the annual TTS-ILTS funding)
  • Other educational activities/projects

The allocated budget will be paid in the course of the program year to an account of the SC.

  1. It is of crucial importance that you keep a record of all expenses in order to detail them in your annual reports.
  2. Your budget MUST be spent in this current year and unclaimed budget will not be added to your budget of the next program year.

TTS and ILTS also provide several in-kind support items to the pairs; these will be described in coming months.