Orlando, Fla. -- At its meeting November 16-17, the OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors approved 236 living donor kidney transplant programs that met criteria for key personnel and enhancing living donor safety. Each of these programs had been approved previously under more general standards for kidney transplant programs.

As part of an ongoing effort to identify emerging trends in the field of organ donation and transplantation, more than 50 experts from many areas of the transplant community have prepared the comprehensive 2008 Annual Report of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation (OPTN) and U.S. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR).

One policy proposal is now being offered for public comment. This proposal was developed by the Living Donor Committee.