CareDx and the Transplant Games celebrate life for the organ donation community

The Transplant Games of America are a chance for all those in the organ transplant community—recipients, those waiting for organs, donors, carers, etc.—to get together and celebrate life via sport. The event is sponsored by transplant solutions company CareDx and produced by the Transplant Life Foundation, a transplant nonprofit and advocacy group.

The biannual event is back live after a COVID-19 break and celebrated its 16th year this month in San Diego. The event featured 40 state teams and several international teams composed of transplant recipients and living donors who compete in 20 different sporting and recreation events ranging from cornhole to cycling.

“It's less about winning, but more about participation and recognizing how people can come together to show that they could live a full life as a recipient, but also at the same time honoring some of the donors. If donors do come on, and with donor families as well, it's quite special,” Reginald Seeto, president and CEO of CareDx, said in an interview. 

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In addition to the fun aspect, there is the hope that the games amplify the awareness of the need for organ donations, currently in the U.S. there are about 100,000 people waiting on an organ transplant, and it’s estimated that 17 people die per day without that transplant. Sixty percent of those waiting are from minority and underserved communities.

Often the location of the games is not only chosen for the ability to house all the participants and visitors, but also in cities where there is a need to drum up donations. Unlike the U.K. or Spain, which has an “opt out” option for organ donation, the U.S. is “opt in” and, while many are pro organ donation, if they don’t tick that box, that donation could be wasted.

It’s not surprising, the transplant community is tightknit, so the event is promoted mostly from within the group with ads in TransplantNATION magazine, social media and the Transplant Games YouTube channel.  There is also a monthly newsletter that goes out to about 8,000 people. 

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“I think there's a very uniqueness about this coming together of all these different parts of what we call the ecosystem. It's very special. We also play our role being one of the industry sponsors, but also more importantly, we feel very connected, having been involved in space for two decades,” Seeto said.

Addressing the racial disparities within the transplant area, CareDx and the Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program are set to host a virtual panel discussion, “Tackling Health Equity in Organ Transplantation,” later this month in honor of National Minority Donor Awareness Month. Moderating the panel will be Velma Scantlebury, M.D., of Texas Christian University, America’s first Black female transplant surgeon.