Just the FACTs, Volume 4
Friends,
First, may I recognize the fatigue everyone has by now, especially as we (at least in the United States and some European countries) are facing a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases again just as we try to reopen transplant services to our patients who so badly need them. Second, may we have kindness in our hearts as we strive for a just world, and the joint statement by FACT, ASTCT, CIBMTR, ISCT, and EBMT acknowledging and condemning racism is a step in that direction. As we pursue our daily activities may we see all people and situations through a new lens.
I think the ISCT meeting was very successful, even more remarkable because of the pivot from an in-person meeting to the new format in such a short time, and may be a sign of the future as we figure out how to communicate with one another, especially for people who have risk factors for complications of COVID infections.
Even as we physically distance, keep in touch with everyone, particularly family and loved ones, please wear masks (I’m preaching to the choir, but choir is one of the risky activities . . .) to protect one another.
Take care,
Dennis Gastineau, MD
FACT President