Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Component Leader: Dr. Effie Peterdorf
The International Histocompatibility Working Group (IHWG) is a collaborative international effort to increase the availability and efficacy of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) from alternative donors through an improved understanding of the genetic barrier. The HCT working group is comprised of experts in the fields of histocompatibility and immunogenetics, hematopoietic cell transplantation, and outcomes research. The current working group includes 170 investigators, 42 laboratories, 435 transplant centers, 10 transplant and donor registries from 18 countries who have built a genetic and clinical database of 30,099 transplants. Active investigation is in progress in 8 key areas: the impact of HLA matching, role of race and ethnicity, identification of permissible HLA mismatches, haplotype-associated determinants, minor histocompatibility antigens, non-inherited maternal antigens, immune response and cytokine genes, and KIR genetics.