On Friday 15 November at 14:30, Lene Ugilt Pagter Ludvigsen defends her PhD dissertation entitled "Epstein-Barr virus infection in kidney transplant recipients – Investigating the clinical relevance and the prospects for prevention of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder".

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with the development of a wide range of cancers, including post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) among solid organ transplant recipients. Consequently, screening for EBV-DNA in blood compartments (EBV-DNAaemia) is now included in international guidelines for transplant recipients. However, the clinical significance of EBV-DNAaemia in plasma and whole blood is yet to be determined, and evidence-based therapeutic preventive strategies against PTLD remain scarce.

This PhD project aimed to investigate 1) the clinical spectrum of EBV-associated disease in patients from the Central Denmark Region and to assess the diagnostic accuracy of EBV-DNAaemia in this population, 2) to estimate the incidence and risk factors for PTLD in EBV-seronegative kidney transplant recipients in the contemporary era of immunosuppression, and 3) to investigate the incidence of EBV-DNA in both plasma and whole blood as a predictor for PTLD in kidney transplant recipients.

The summary is written by the PhD student. 

The defence is public and takes place in Auditorium B, G206-142, Aarhus University Hospital. Please see the press release for more information. 

Contact

PhD student Lene Ugilt Pagter Ludvigsen
Mail: leneugilt@clin.au.dk

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