Panelists Offer Different Perspectives to Address Health Disparities in Organ Transplantation
BRISBANE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CareDx, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDNA) – The Transplant Company™ focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of clinically differentiated, high-value healthcare solutions for transplant patients and caregivers – today announced that it will co-host, along with MOTTEP (Minority Organ Tissue Transplantation Education Program), a panel discussion, “Tackling Health Equity in Organ Transplantation,” on August 18, 2022, 10:00-11:00am PST (1:00–2:00pm EST). The event is timed in recognition of National Minority Donor Awareness Month.
The event will bring greater awareness of health disparities in organ transplantation and discuss actionable solutions to address them. The event will be co-hosted by Reg Seeto, CEO and President of CareDx, and Dr. Clive Callender, Founder of MOTTEP.
“As a long-standing proponent of health equity in transplantation, CareDx is honored to be co-hosting this panel discussion with Dr. Clive Callender in recognition of National Minority Donor Awareness Month, which stems from his organization’s important work to increase the number of minority-donated organs, improve disease prevention education, and address the need for organ transplantation in high-risk, underserved communities,” said Reg Seeto, CEO and President of CareDx.
The panel discussion will be moderated by Velma Scantlebury, MD, FACS, GCM, Professor of Surgery, Texas Christian University.
Panelists include:
- Martin Cadeiras, MD, Medical Director for the Advanced Heart Failure, Heart Transplantation, and Mechanical Circulatory Support Device Program at UC Davis Health, and Principal Investigator for the Pluralist, Patient Centered Precision Digital Health Education, research project
- Jay Graham, MD, MBA, FACS, Associate Professor, Abdominal Transplant Surgeon, Pancreas Transplantation Surgical Director, Montefiore-Einstein Center for Transplantation
- Lisa McElroy, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Abdominal Transplantation, Assistant Professor in Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine
- Glenda V. Roberts, Director, Patient Engagement and External Relations, Kidney Research Institute, Center for Dialysis Innovation, Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Washington
- Art Torres, Vice Chair on the board of One Legacy, an organ transplant organization, and member of CareDx Board of Directors
“We are very pleased to be working with CareDx to advance action towards improving health equity in transplantation, a topic we at MOTTEP have long been pushing forward,” said Dr. Clive Callender, MOTTEP founder. “We hope this summit can help raise awareness of the need for more minority organ donations and new solutions to address the pressing topic of organ transplantation which disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic Americans.”
To register to attend, please follow this registration link.
Organ transplants save thousands of lives each year—41,354 in the U.S. in 20211 —and the need for them continues to grow exponentially. However, the donated organ supply cannot keep up with demand. There are over 100,000 on the waiting list for an organ, and 17 people die each day waiting.2 Sixty percent of patients waiting for life-saving organ transplants come from minority communities, 3,4 which have significantly higher rates of diabetes, high-blood pressure, hypertension, and kidney disease5,6 due to long-standing racial and socioeconomic disparities and challenges in accessing quality healthcare. The problem is compounded by other inequities, including access to preemptive kidney transplantation and organ transplant waitlisting.
National Minority Donor Awareness Month is a collaborative initiative of the National (Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation) Multicultural Action Group (NMAG) to save and improve the quality of life of diverse communities by creating a positive culture for organ, eye, and tissue donation. National Minority Donor Awareness Month stems from National Minority Donor Awareness Week,7 founded in 1996 by MOTTEP, to bring heightened awareness to donation and transplantation in multicultural communities – focusing primarily on African American, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander and Native American communities.
About CareDx – The Transplant Company
CareDx, Inc., headquartered in Brisbane, California, is a leading precision medicine solutions company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of clinically differentiated, high-value healthcare solutions for transplant patients and caregivers. CareDx offers testing services, products, and digital healthcare solutions along the pre- and post-transplant patient journey and is the leading provider of genomics-based information for transplant patients. For more information, please visit: www.CareDx.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements related to CareDx, Inc., including statements regarding the potential benefits and results that may be achieved with CareDx’s co-hosting of the health equity panel discussion with MOTTEP in recognition of Minority Donor Awareness Month (the “Panel Discussion”). These forward-looking statements are based upon information that is currently available to CareDx and its current expectations, speak only as of the date hereof, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including risks that CareDx does not realize the expected benefits of cohosting of the Panel Discussion; general economic and market factors; and other risks discussed in CareDx’s filings with the SEC, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 filed by CareDx with the SEC on February 24, 2022, the quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 filed by CareDx with the SEC on May 5, 2022, the quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 filed by CareDx with the SEC on August 4, 2022, and other reports that CareDx has filed with the SEC. Any of these may cause CareDx’s actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied by CareDx’s forward-looking statements. CareDx expressly disclaims any obligation, except as required by law, or undertaking to update or revise any such forward-looking statements.
References:
- UNOS. All-time records again set in 2021 for organ transplants, organ donation from deceased donors. UNOS. https://unos.org/news/2021-all-time-records-organ-transplants-deceased-donor-donation/. Published January 11, 2022.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data as of 3/01/22
- Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA). https://www.organdonor.gov/learn/organ-donation-statistics.
- Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/398511/number-of-us-candidates-on-organ-waiting-list-by-ethnicity/
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Offices of Minority Health. https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=27.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/hispanic-health/index.html.
- Donate Life. National Minority Donor Awareness Month. Donate Life America. https://www.donatelife.net/nmdam/. Published August 2, 2022.
Contacts
CareDx. Inc.
Anna Czene
Media Relations
818-731-2203
Investor Relations
Ian Cooney
(415) 722-4563
