Category: Geen categorie

Obituary, in memory of Prof. Dr. Frans Claas

Frans ClaasIt is with great sadness that we received the message about the sudden death of our dear friend and colleague Prof. Dr. Frans Claas. He passed away suddenly on Sunday, February 2, 2025, while on holiday in South Africa.

Over the years, Frans has been closely involved with our organization. He took on many different roles following in the footsteps of his mentor Prof. Dr. Jon van Rood, the founder of Eurotransplant. Frans was the founder of the Eurotransplant Reference Lab (ETRL) and took on the role of director of ETRL between 1985-2020. He even came back to Eurotransplant to serve as interim Medical Director between 2023-2024. We were very honored that Frans took on this task.

Frans worked tirelessly within the field of transplantation and immunology. He was closely involved with EFI, Europdonor (Matchis), the Dutch Transplant Foundation (NTS), Eurocord, ASHI, the University of Antwerp, the University of Leiden, and the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). Above all, Frans was supremely generous at sharing his knowledge and expertise worldwide and was a great believer in the strength of international collaboration.

“We will remember Frans for his special and warm personality. He had a great smile that was contagious. Frans spoke passionately about his field and was always ready to give advice or a helping hand. His dedication to transplant immunology, his expertise and passion about his field has left a lasting impression on many of us. Frans will be greatly missed.”

Our thoughts and sincere condolences extend to Frans’s wife, Ilse, and family, also to his colleagues and close friends throughout the world at this difficult time.

In memoriam: Prof. Dr. Bojan Vrtovec (1972-2025)

Prof. dr. Bojan Vrtovec Foto UKC Ljubljana

Prof. dr. Bojan Vrtovec (Foto: UKC Ljubljana)

With sadness we received the message that Prof. Dr. Bojan Vrtovec passed away on Sunday, January 12, 2025. Bojan Vrtovec was one of the best and most respected cardiologists in Slovenia and beyond. He had been a HU auditor for Eurotransplant since 2005, and was a member of the Eurotransplant Thoracic Advisory Committee (EThAC) since 2018.

Prof. Dr. Vrtovec has devoted himself intensively to scientific research in the field of advanced heart failure and heart transplantation. For several years, he was the head of the Clinical Department of Cardiology at the University Hospital Ljubljana and the head of the Program for Advanced Heart Failure and Heart Transplantation at the Internal Medicine Clinic at the University Hospital Ljubljana. Bojan Vrtovec has cooperated excellently with Slovenia-transplant since the establishment of the institute. He has always shown significant professional support for the development of donor-transplantation activities at the clinical level.

As the official representative of the transplant center of the University Hospital Ljubljana, Bojan Vrtovec was a well-respected colleague in the Eurotransplant committees, and he will be sorely missed.

“Professor Vrtovec was more than just an outstanding doctor and scientist – he was a man who left an indelible mark on everyone who was lucky enough to work with him with his warmth, openness and dedication. He was an intellectual in the truest sense of the word – a man who, with his curiosity and constant search for truth, pushed the boundaries of science and at the same time inspired his colleagues and students. His legacy goes beyond mere medical achievements, as he promoted the holistic development of the cardiovascular scientific community in Slovenia as a mentor and thinker, which will continue to be inspired by his work and vision.”

– Prof. Dr. Ivan Kneževič, Chair of the Eurotransplant Heart Subcommittee

 

Our thoughts are with his family and close friends, Prof. dr. Vrtovec will not be forgotten.

Annual Meeting 2024 Lada Zibar

A successful Annual Meeting 2024

Eurotransplant looks back on a successful Annual Meeting which took place from October 10-11, 2024 in Wassenaar, the Netherlands. We had the pleasure of welcoming more than 270 attendees from Eurotransplant member countries as well as guest speakers from France, the United Kingdom, and Canada sharing their best practices and research.  

One of the highlights was the announcement of the winner of the Jon van Rood award. Prof. Dr. Rainer Blasczyk received the award for ‘Invisible Organs – Engineering Allotransplants to Overcome Rejection’. The award was handed out by Prof. Dr. Andreas Zuckermann during the Eurotransplant Annual Meeting. 

We are glad that opportunities to exchange ideas were greatly used and many participants were actively involved in discussing new developments related to organ donation, allocation and transplantation. We thank all chairpersons and speakers for their valuable contribution and the interesting discussions.   

The photo’s are now available on the Annual Meeting site. The presentations of the sessions will be listed as Pdf files on the new member site when it’s launched. 

As soon as the dates and venue of the Annual Meeting 2025 are known, we will publish this information on the Eurotransplant website.