Collaborative Transplant Study (CTS) - University of Heidelberg, Germany

"The Collaborative Transplant Study originated from the need to gain further insight into the complex problems and risks involved in human organ transplantation. The study was initiated in 1982. It is based on the voluntary cooperation of transplant centers from around the world.

The study's aims are strictly scientific. The philosophy behind it is that the knowledge-gaining process can be accelerated by combining the experience of many, especially with respect to complex interactions of factors and the analysis of rare events. Aside from maintaining a transplant registry, the CTS conducts various prospective and retrospective studies on particular research topics.

Participation

With the active support of more than 400 transplant centers in 45 countries, the CTS is the largest international voluntary study in the field of medicine. More than 300.000 data sets for kidney, heart, lung, liver, and pancreas transplants have been collected. This wealth of data has provided invaluable insights into transplantation-related problems.

The study is coordinated from the transplantation immunology department of the University of Heidelberg, Germany. The Heidelberg CTS team includes physicians, immunologists, computer scientists, statisticians and laboratory staff."

Web page :
http://cts.med.uni-heidelberg.de/public/introduction.html