Wednesday, September 30, 2026
2:30 PM - 7:30 PM
IIRTA Council Meeting (invitation only)
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Registration and Help Desk
Thursday, October 1, 2026
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
Allied Health Meeting (invitation only)
7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Registration and Help Desk
7:45 AM - 8:45 AM
BREAKFAST
8:30 AM - 8:50 AM
Primer and Allied Health Joint Session: Intestinal Failure: A Challenging and Changing Specialty
David Mercer, MD, PhD, University of Nebraska Medical Center
8:50 AM - 9:35 AM
Primer and Allied Health Joint Session: Promoting quality of life and healthy living with intestinal failure and transplant: Peer support through shared experiences
Beverly Kosmach-Park, DNP, RN, FAAN, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Christina Belza, PhD, NP, Hospital for Sick Children
Jaycee Park, Jaycee's Journey
Jessica Orris, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
9:45 AM - 10:05 AM
Allied Health
Intestinal Failure and Transplant: Monitoring the child's long-term health.
Patricia Turner, BSN, RN, Nebraska Medicine
Megan Keck, PharmD, BCPS, Nebraska Medicine
Angela Iverson, RD, Nebraska Medicine
Primer
How To's of Enteral Feeding Management
Alexandra Carey, MD, Boston Children's Hosptial
10:05 AM - 10:25 AM
Allied Health
Building a Structured Program of Physical Activity in Intestinal Care
Stephanie So, Msc.PT, SickKids
Primer
Parenteral Nutrition Management: What You Need to Know
Glenda Courtney-Martin, PhD, RD, Hospital for Sick Children/ University of Toronto
10:25 AM - 10:45 AM
Allied Health
Transition of Care: Creating a Toolkit for Independence in Intestinal Failure
Sivan Kinberg, MD, Columbia University Medical Center
Primer
GLP-2 and Other Pharmacological Interventions
Shweta Namjoshi, MD, MPH, CNSC, Stanford University School of Medicine
10:45 AM - 11:00 AM
BREAK
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Primer
Central Venous Access: Management and Complications
Sirine Belaid, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Children's of Alabama
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
Allied Health: Roundtable Session I
Navigating Uncertainty: Strategies for securing insurance coverage and an intestinal care team during transition to adult care
Brandi Gerhardt, MSN, RN, Nebraska Medicine
Allied Health: Roundtable Session I
The role for GLP-2 Therapy in Intestinal Care
Jaime Carney, Nebraska Medicine
Allied Health: Roundtable Session I
Life with a Central Line: School, work, travel, and sports
Katie Janiak, UNMC
Allied Health: Roundtable Session I
Tips and Tricks on Food Progression
Samantha List, UNMC
Allied Health: Roundtable Session I
Electrolyte solutions: What's the best recipe?
Olivia Plageman, MS, RD, LD, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Allied Health: Roundtable Session I
Empowering Teens Through Intestinal Care Self-Management
Hannah McKillop, PhD, Nationwide Children's Hospital
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Primer
Initial Surgical Management of Intestinal Failure
Antonino Morabito, MD, University of Florence
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Allied Health: Roundtable Session II
Navigating Uncertainty: Strategies for securing insurance coverage and an intestinal care team during transition to adult care
Allied Health: Roundtable Session II
Electrolyte Solutions: What's the best recipe?
Allied Health: Roundtable Session II
Life with a central line: School, work, travel, and sports
Allied Health: Roundtable Session II
Tips and Tricks on Food Progression
Allied Health: Roundtable Session II
The role for GLP-2 therapy in intestinal care
Allied Health: Roundtable Session II
Empowering teens through intestinal care self-management
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Primer
Strategy of Surgical Rehabilitation
Pablo Lobos, MD, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires
12:30 PM - 1:20 PM
LUNCH
1:20 PM - 1:50 PM
Allied Health
School Savvy: IEPS, safety concerns, and beyond
Leah Kelly, The Hospital for Sick Children
Primer
Intestinal Transplant: The Why, When, and With What
Geoff Bond, MD, FRACS, UPMC
1:50 PM - 2:20 PM
Allied Health
Formula Composition: Does it matter?
Elizabeth Bobo, MS, RD, LDN, Nemours Children's Health
Primer
Graft Monitoring and Immunosuppression: The Good, Bad and Ugly
Ruben Quiros Tejeira, MD, University of Nebraska Medical Center
2:20 PM - 2:50 PM
Allied Health
The Multidisciplinary Team: How to Take Care of You
Hillary Bashaw, Ohsu Doernbecher Children's Hospital
Primer
Outcomes of Transplantation
Robert Venick, MD, UCLA Health
2:50 PM - 3:05 PM
AFTERNOON BREAK
3:05 PM - 3:25 PM
Primer
Endoluminal Lengthening (Spring Eclipse)
James Dunn, MD, PhD, Stanford University
3:05 PM - 4:20 PM
Allied Health
Allied Health Abstracts
3:25 PM - 3:45 PM
Primer
Life long TPN vs Transplantation
Monique Goldschmidt, MD, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center
3:45 PM - 4:05 PM
Primer
Is Pre-emptive Transplant Indicated?
Vikram Raghu, UPMC
4:05 PM - 4:25 PM
Primer
Challenges of Transplant timing as patients reach adult age
Ruy J. Cruz, MD, UPMC
4:25 PM - 4:50 PM
Primer
Intestinal Transplant Advocacy Through Art: How to Conceptualize the Patient Experience Through an Artistic Framework
Daisy Friedman, Self-employed
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Intestinal Failure Registry Site Primary Investigators Meeting (invitation only)
Friday, October 2, 2026
7:00 AM - 8:00 AM
BREAKFAST AND EXPO
ASPEN Meeting (invitation only)
IITR and Intestinal Transplant Scientific Committee (invitation only)
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Registration and Help Desk
8:00 AM - 8:05 AM
Welcome & Introductions
8:05 AM - 8:40 AM
KEYNOTE: New Frontiers: Advancing Intestinal Failure Care Through Allied Health Scholarship
Christina Belza, PhD, NP, Hospital for Sick Children
Marie Neumann, PhD, University of Nebraska Medical Center
8:40 AM - 9:05 AM
Surgical approach to the Catastrophic Injury
Surgical Approach to Catastrophic Bowel Loss
Paul Wales, BSc, MD, MSc, FRCSC, FACS, FASPEN, Cincinnati Children's Hospital
9:05 AM - 9:30 AM
Surgical approach to the Catastrophic Injury
Physiologic Benefits of Distal Bowel Refeeding
Gil Hardy
9:30 AM - 9:55 AM
Surgical approach to the Catastrophic Injury
Is There a Role for Surgery in Non-SBS Intestinal Failure
David Mercer, MD, PhD, University of Nebraska Medical Center
9:55 AM - 10:25 AM
MORNING BREAK AND EXPO
10:25 AM - 10:50 AM
Breakout Session
Bioactive Components of Breast Milk
Katie Huff, MD, MS, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
General Session
AI Models in TPN
Nima Aghaeepour, PhD, Stanford University
10:50 AM - 11:15 AM
Breakout Session
Updates on Donor Human Milk
Ting Ting Fu, MD, MS, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
General Session
Fetal Surgery for Gastroschisis
Sundeep Keswani
11:15 AM - 11:40 AM
Breakout Session
After Breast Milk- What to Use?
Jackie Wessel, MEd, RDN, CNSC, CLE
General Session
Advancing Clinical Translational Science in Intestinal Failure and Transplant
Tomoaki Kato, MD, Columbia University
11:40 AM - 1:10 PM
LUNCH AND EXPO
12:10 PM - 12:40 PM
Innovation Theatre: The Complexities of Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS):What You Might Not Know
Valeria Cohran, MD, The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
1:10 PM - 1:35 PM
Breakout Session
Colorado Advocacy in TPN Access
Lindsey Gumer, MD, MSc, Children's Hospital Colorado
General Session
Special Lecture: Living Donor Intestinal Transplantation
Debra Sudan, MD, Duke University Hospital
1:35 PM - 2:00 PM
Breakout Session
Can HRSA Help Develop Guidelines Around Transition to Support Intestinal Failure and Transplant Patients for a Lifetime
Raymond Lynch
General Session
Chronic inflammation in SGS
Conrad Cole
2:00 PM - 2:25 PM
Breakout Session
The Price of Progress: Caregiver Strain in Pediatric Intestinal Failure
Atu Agawu, MD, MPH, MSCE, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, USC Keck School of Medicine
General Session
Inflammation in Intestinal Failures - Congenital Diarrheas
Lissette Jimenez, MD, MPH, Boston Children's Hospital
2:25 PM - 2:55 PM
AFTERNOON BREAK AND EXPO
2:55 PM - 3:20 PM
Breakout Session
Designing the EMR for Data Collection
Ethan Mezoff, MD, Nationwide Children's
General Session
Micah's Story and How We Can Impact NEC
Jennifer Canvasser, Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) Society
3:20 PM - 3:45 PM
Breakout Session
Intestinal Tissue Bioengineering
Allison Speer
3:20 PM - 4:10 PM
General Session
Partnering for Progress: Patient and Family Engagement as an Opportunity in Pediatric Intestinal Failure
Marie Neumann, PhD, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Swapna Kakani, MPH, The Gutsy Perspective, LLC
Meghan Hall Rauen, The Global Gastroschisis Foundation
Jessica Allen, Samford University
3:45 PM - 4:10 PM
Breakout Session
Machine Learning Methodology for Predictive Modeling in Intestinal Failure and Transplant
Eric Pahl, IIRTA
4:15 PM - 5:05 PM
Oral Abstracts: Medical
Oral Abstracts: Surgical
5:15 PM - 7:15 PM
COCKTAIL RECEPTION & POSTER SESSION
8:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Mix and Mingle Reception at Slowdown (additional fee)
Saturday, October 3, 2026
7:00 AM - 8:00 AM
Basic and Translational Science Meeting (invitation only)
BREAKFAST AND EXPO
7:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Registration and Help Desk
8:00 AM - 8:05 AM
Welcome and Day One Recap
8:05 AM - 8:40 AM
KEYNOTE: Frontiers in Organ Utilization: DCD Intestinal Grafts From Bench to the Clinic
Paco Hernandez
8:45 AM - 9:10 AM
Breakout Session
Parental Nutrition Weaning in Patients Enrolled in Remote Patient Monitoring
Stephanie Oliveira, MD, CNSC, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
General Session
Intestinal Conditioning and Machine Perfusion
Liara Gonzalez, DVM, PhD, DACVS, North Carolina State University
9:10 AM - 9:35 AM
Breakout Session
Tools to Enhance Quality of Life
Anna Gold, PhD C. Psych., SickKids Hospital
Marie Neumann, PhD, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Christina Belza, PhD, NP, Hospital for Sick Children
General Session
Personalizing Immunosuppression in Intestinal Transplant: Can we do it?
Alexander Kroemer, MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute, Georgetown University Medical Center
9:35 AM - 10:00 AM
Breakout Session
The Impact of AI and Social Media for Families
Hannah McKillop, PhD, Nationwide Children's Hospital
General Session
Experience with Biologics in Intestinal Transplant
Jennifer Garcia, MD, Miami Transplant Institute, University of Miami- Jackson Memorial Hospital
10:00 AM - 10:15 AM
MORNING BREAK AND EXPO
10:15 AM - 10:40 AM
Breakout Session
Assessing Growth Quality in Pediatric Intestinal Failure: Putting Body Composition into Practice
Jessie Hulst, MD, PhD, The Hospital for Sick Children/University of Toronto
General Session
Role of Advanced Endoscopy in Intestinal Failure
Daniela Gattini, MD, Hospital for Sick Children - University of Toronto
10:40 AM - 11:05 AM
Breakout Session
Beyond Survival: What Happens When Transplant Recipients Grow Up?
Daisy Friedman, Self-employed
General Session
Surgical Complications Following Intestinal Transplantation
Shaheed Merani, MD, PhD, FRCS(C), FACS, Nebraska Medicine
11:05 AM - 11:30 AM
Breakout Session
Reproductive Health in Intestinal Failure and Intestinal Transplant
Hilary Catron, MS, RD, LMN, Nebraska Medicine
General Session
Renal Injury in Intestinal Failure and Transplant: Where We Stand and How to Improve
Sameer Thadani, MD, Baylor College of Medicine
11:35 AM - 12:15 PM
Top Abstract Presentations
12:15 PM - 1:10 PM
LUNCH AND EXPO
1:10 PM - 1:35 PM
Pediatric Intestinal Failure and Intestinal Transplant Data Snapshot
Robert Venick, MD, UCLA Health
1:35 PM - 2:00 PM
Scholarship in Intestinal Failure and the Intestinal Failure Journal
Douglas Farmer, MD, UCLA
2:00 PM - 2:25 PM
Lift ECHO Next Steps
Kishore Iyer, MD
2:25 PM - 2:45 PM
Wrap-Up and Closing Remarks