«Zurich Pediatric Transplant Symposium»
Welcome to the first Zurich Pediatric Transplant Symposium which will take place on Friday, 19 June 2026 at the University Children’s Hospital in Zurich.
The focus of the symposium is on post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) which remains a serious complication of immunosuppression in children. Prevention, early detection and tailored treatment are essential for better outcomes. Our symposium features expert lectures, interactive case discussions, and networking with specialists in heart, kidney, liver, and stem cell transplantation.
This meeting encourages collaboration and knowledge exchange among colleagues from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and beyond. We warmly invite all physicians, nurses and scientists involved in the care of transplanted children to join us in our new children’s hospital and look forward to your participation.
Registration and fee
Early bird until 30 April 2026 CHF/€ 150
From 1 Mai 2026 CHF/€ 200
On site registration CHF/€ 230
Online: https://app.oniva.events/en/event/ped-tx-ptld-ch
General information
Hosts
– Prof. Dr. med. Christian Balmer, Pediatric Cardiology
– Prof. Dr. med. Tayfun Güngör, Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies
– Dr. med. Dr. phil. nat. Mathias Hauri-Hohl, Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies
– Dr. med. Wesley Hayes, Pediatric Nephrology
– KD Dr. med. Sabine Kroiss Benninger, Pediatric Oncology
Venue
Friday, 19 June 2026
Lecture hall of the Research and Teaching Building
Forschung & Lehre, Kinderspital Zürich
August-Forel-Strasse 51, 8008 Zurich
09.00 Welcome
Sabine Kroiss Benninger & Christian Balmer
Pathophysiology of PTLD
Moderation / Chair: Christian Balmer and Mathias Hauri-Hohl
09.10 Viral infections in immunosuppressed patients and
development of PTLD
Christoph Berger
09.30 EBV-infection: Clinical patterns and diagnostic tools
Nicolas Müller
09.50 Types of PTLD: The Challenge for the pathologist
Stefan Dirnhofer
Diagnostic Challenges
Moderation / Chair: Christian Balmer and Mathias Hauri-Hohl
10.10 Clinical Presentation: Just a chronic cough?
Vanessa Sitte-Koch
10.25 Clinical Presentation: EBV or PTLD?
Matthias Felber
10.40 Discussion
10.55 Break
Management of PTLD
Moderation / Chair: Tayfun Güngör and Sabine Kroiss Benninger
11.25 PTLD in childhood: Diagnosis, classification and therapy
Britta Maecker-Kolhoff
11.55 Therapy of PTLD: A stepwise escalation
Sabine Kroiss Benninger
12.10 Discussion
12.25 Prognostic factors in PTLD: A report from Austria
Roman Crazzolara
13.00 Lunch
Optimizing Immunosuppression
Moderation / Chair: Wesley Hayes and Sonja Budäus
14.00 Management after Liver Transplant
Nathalie Rock
14.15 Management after Kidney Transplant
Wesley Hayes
14.30 Management after Heart Transplant
Susanne Skrzypek
14.45 Discussion
15.05 Monitoring of Immunosuppression by dd cfDNA
Lukas Frischknecht
15.20 Short break
Shaping the Future
Moderation / Chair: Tayfun Güngör and Sabine Kroiss Benninger
15.30 Balancing Immune Function after hematopoietic SCT
Mathias Hauri-Hohl
15.45 Inducing immune tolerance in solid organ transplantation: combined SOT and HSCT
Kerstin Hübel
16.15 EBV-specific T cell therapy in PTLD
Nina Khanna Gremmelmaier
16.35 Closing Remarks
Christian Balmer and
Sabine Kroiss Benninger
16.50 Networking Apéro and Farewell
18.30 End of the meeting