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Kenneth Moritsugu M.D., Deputy |
The fifth annual Hopkins Patient Conference will take place on Saturday, May 17 at The Holiday Inn in Timonium. U.S. Deputy Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu, M.D. will be the keynote speaker. His wife became a donor following a tragic, fatal accident in 1992. His daughter died in a separate accident in 1996 and was also an organ and tissue donor.
A dedicated advocate for organ and tissue donation and transplantation, Dr. Moritsugu is a member of the Board of Directors of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), an officer and a board member of the Washington Regional Transplant Consortium. He participates in several other transplant-related organizations and speaks on the subject frequently. Dr. Moritsugu is a career officer in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. He was born and raised in Hawaii and began his career with the Public Health Service in 1968.
Because the transplant experience can be a long and often lonesome journey for patients and their families, this spring’s patient conference is entitled, “The Transplant Journey: A Roadmap for Your Well-Being.” The conference will recognize the physical and emotional factors involved in transplantation and will offer information on successful coping.
Taking a journey as its theme, the conference will also offer sessions on organ acquisition and allocation, how to address the experience as a family, diet and lifestyle tips, including how to look and feel good during the experience, living donors, medications, and the latest in transplant and treatment advances.
The most popular sessions are expected to be those where patients present their stories. A panel of patients and medical personnel will describe the transplant journey from various points of view. Robert N. McEwan, former Administrator of the CTC, and now CEO of MEDBANK of Maryland, will also speak. His session is entitled, “When Patients Can’t Afford Their Drugs.” Another featured speaker will be Jeff Lueders, author of Second Chances, a book of patient biographies. Mr. Lueders is a heart recipient.
Andrew Klein, M.D., Director of the Transplant Center at Hopkins, will welcome registrants; at the conclusion of the day, Hopkins physicians will review the latest advances in transplant.
Patients new to the transplant waiting list will be able to identify sessions that are particularly critical for their situation. Such sessions will offer a baseline of information for those new to the experience.
