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editorial
. 2026 Feb 11;39:16267. doi: 10.3389/ti.2026.16267

Transplant International: Looking Back at 2025, Looking Forward to 2026

Thierry Berney 1,*, Maria Irene Bellini 2, Oriol Bestard 2, Antonio Citro 3, Delphine Kervella 3, Nina Pilat 2, Stefan Schneeberger 2, Emilien Seizilles de Mazancourt 3, Arianna Trizzino 3, Andrea Zajacova 3
PMCID: PMC12933933  PMID: 41756811

Transplant International (TI) has had a busy year in 2025 and the start of a new year is an opportunity to thank our authors, reviewers and editors for the quality effort consented to make TI an ever improving and impactful journal. As an indicator of TI’s growing attractivity, the impact factor has increased as have the numbers of manuscript submissions.

To our authors: Several articles published in TI in 2025, addressing various topics in the broad field of organ replacement, have been the object of considerable interest. Some papers have already been cited a few times despite the short time elapsed since publication. Congratulations to the authors who have submitted these papers and contributed to the high-quality standards of the journal (Table 1).

TABLE 1.

Top 10 2025 most cited TI artices (Dimensions scores).

The last mile in beta-cell replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes: Time to grow up Piemonti [1] 8 citations
Donors with previous malignancy: When is it safe to proceed with organ transplantation? Turra et al [2] 6 citations
The evolution of immunosuppressive therapy in pig-to-nonhuman primate organ transplantation Sanatkar et al. [3] 6 citations
Ethical issues in uncontrolled donation after circulatory determination of death: A scoping review to reveal areas of broad consensus, and those for future research Fritz et al. [4] 6 citations
Mono-HOPE versus Dual-HOPE in liver transplantation: A propensity score-matched evaluation of early graft outcome Koch et al [5] 6 citations
Desensitization with imlifidase for HLA-incompatible deceased donor kidney transplantation: A delphi international expert consensus Furian et al. [6] 5 citations
Heart transplantation and donation after circulatory death in children. A review of the technological, logistical and ethical framework Kenny et al. [7] 5 citations
Targeting CD38 in antibody-mediated rejection Mayer et al. [8] 4 citations
Progress in porcine kidney transplantation to non-human primates Le bas-bernardet et al. [9] 4 citations
Multi-center outcome analysis of 16 face transplantations – a retrospective OPTN study Knoedler et al. [10] 4 citations

Measuring impact early after publication is not easy and requires other metrics than numbers of citations. Indeed, a rapid analysis on Web of Science shows that articles published in Transplant International reach their peak citation numbers the third year after publication. This is in concordance with what has been previously reported elsewhere [11, 12]. For this reason, capturing the impact early after publication requires considering other more immediate indices such as numbers of views and downloads. Expectedly, a look at the top 10 viewed or downloaded papers shows that the overlap is only partial and 9 additional articles can be identified among TI papers of highest interest (Table 2).

TABLE 2.

Other TI articles with high views or downloads numbers (measured 8.1.26).

Liver transplantation in the context of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF): Where do we stand in 2025? L’Hermite et al [13] 8540 views
1530 downloads
Updates on donor-derived infection in solid organ transplantation, report from the 2024 GTI (infection and transplantation group) annual meeting Eldin et al [14] 6122 views
872 downloads
The progress and challenges of implementing HLA molecular matching in clinical practice Bezstarosti et al [15] 6100 views
684 downloads
Current techniques of gene editing in pigs for xenotransplantation Galli [16] 5718 views
1456 downloads
State of art of dose individualization to support tacrolimus drug monitoring: What’s next? Lloberas et al [17] 5699 views
1310 downloads
Ex-Vivo heart perfusion machines in DCD heart transplantation model: The state of art Tessari et al [18] 5639 views
398 downloads
Nurse-led self-management support after organ transplantation – a multicenter, stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial Van zanten et al [19] 5400 views
1579 downloads
Development of non-HLA antibodies and their association with antibody-mediated rejection in pediatric kidney transplant recipients Schmidt et al [20] 5369 views
704 downloads
Evaluating risk in kidney living donors Ortiz et al [21] 4797 views
1284 downloads

The topics that have generated the most interest are xenotransplantation and machine perfusion. Unsurprisingly, the same topics are found at the top of TI editors’ selection of the most impactful papers published in 2025 in the field of clinical transplantation [22]. These 2 topics have been the focus of 2 special issues that just closed at the end of 2025 and titled “Current developments in artificial organs and engineered ex-situ perfused organs” and “Europeans and Xenotransplantation” [23, 24]. The collections are now complete and will be available as e-books in the coming months.

TI is extremely grateful to the reviewers who have spent their time and expertise to assess the papers submitted to our journal. We thank them for their voluntary participation, which is key to the scientific quality of the journal. The list of the reviewers who have contributed to TI in 2025 appears at the end of this editorial (Appendix Table 3).

The biennial ESOT Congress took place in London in 2025, from June 29 to July 2, and Transplant International participated actively to the congress activities. Sessions designed and organized by the editorial board and editorial fellows discussed some of the abstracts presented during the congress as well as a selection of articles recently published in TI and covering each of the five tracks defined by the scientific program committee. A “meet the editors” workshop, aiming at the younger delegates, discussed in an interactive format several aspects of scientific publication that are not always obvious for young investigators, such as the good use of biostatistics, artificial intelligence or social media. Importantly, a collection of review and original articles based on invited lectures and best communications presented at the congress is getting ready to be completed in the first quarter of 2026 [25]. Most contributions are already published online. Highlights include reviews on immune monitoring by donor-derived cell-free DNA in heart/lung transplantation torque-tenovirus in kidney transplantation [26, 27] and on the evolution of our understanding of vascular lesions in the kidney graft biopsies [28].

The Transplant International editorial fellowship program is an ongoing success! In addition to their mentoring in all aspects of scientific editing and publishing, editorial fellows are also engaged in communication projects for the journal and have been instrumental in creating new products, such as video abstracts of TI papers and launching a TI podcast.

2025 has been a busy and productive year, but more will come the way of TI readership in 2026. From the beginning of our tenure, it has been our stated aim to strengthen the relationship with ESOT leadership and membership. We endeavor to make TI a journal close to ESOT’s style and philosophy and integrate contents resulting from ESOT’s educational and scientific activities, in the strict respect of editorial independence. Transplant International is the journal of ESOT and of the European transplant community of physicians, surgeons, scientists and allied healthcare professionals. We believe that our efforts will help increase the standing of the journal and its identification as the journal of this dynamic community!

Appendix

APPENDIX TABLE 3.

Reviewers for Transplant International – 2025.

Anders Åsberg a Mladen knotek a Elisa Ruiz-Arabi a
Olivier Aubert a La Salete Martins a Navdeep Singh a
Alberto Benazzo a Johan Boble a Dirk Van Raemdonck a
Klemens Budde a Axel Rahmel a Lada Zibar a
Nicos Kessaris a Juliano Riella a
Shadab Abadpour Alexandra Geusau René Novysedlák
Davide A. Abate Emmanouil Giorgakis Zhuldyz Nurmykhametova
Fariba Abbassi Laurent Godinas Rupert Oberhuber
Amr Abdelaal Amanda Godoi Jon Scott Odorico
Rayid Abdulqawi Petra Goldsmith Michael Oellerich
Maheen Abidi Nicolas Golse Grainne O’Kane
Jose M. Aguado Jeevan Prakash Gopal Valérie Olivier
Victoria Aguilera Basu Gopal Mihai Oltean
Emin Baris Akin Julien Gras Vivian Lumi Onusic
Mohammad Aladaileh Paolo Antonio Grossi Fernanda Ortiz
Varuna Aluvihare Benoit Huery Balin Ozsoy
Amer Alzahrani René Hage Alessandro Palleschi
Antonio J. Amor Franck Halary Eduard Palou
Dany Anglicheau Jerome Harambat María Paniagua-García
Corinne Antoine Takashi Harano Christina Papachristou
Giuseppe Aresu Hermien Hartog Vassilios Papalois
Miha Arnol Koichiro Haruki Lars Pape
Emre Arpali Bulang He Stefano Partelli
Florent Artru Long He Renato Pascale
Isa Ashoor Ilkka Helanterä Andrew R Pepper
Alaa Atamna Merel Hellemons David Pereyra
Trinidad Serrano Aullo Rosa Blanes Hernandez Richard Perez
Lissette Avilés Taizo Hibi Griffith Perkins
Alfonso Avolio Jens Hillingsø Marcelo Perosa
Omer Aziz Toshihito Hirai Quentin Perrier
Andreina Baj Takahisa Hiramitsu Bjoern Petersen
Chloe Balleste Hans H Hirsch Hessel Peters-Sengers
David a Baran Cédric Hirzel Palmina Petruzzo
Andrew S. Barbas Tomer Hoffman Paul Phelan
Louise Barbier Benson Hoffman Maheswaran Pitchaimuthu
Yaniss Belaroussi Are Holm Manuel Podesta
Caterina di Bella Luise Holzhauser Robert Pol
Fabrizio di Benedetto Min Hu Evgenia Preka
David Bennett Volkert Huurman Francesco Procaccio
Marius Berman Mahmoud Mohamed Elsayed Ibrahim Gervasio Soler Pujol
Inigo Bermejo Franz Immer Pankaj Puri
Dominique Bertrand Annika Ingvarsson Marion Rabant
Suzanne Bezstarosti Georgina Irish Mindaugas Rackauskas
Luigi Biancone Michael Gerckens Sarah Raevens
Cecilia Bonazzetti Jasper Iske Rajesh Rajalingam
Caroline Bonner Fabio Ius Sree Bhushan Raju
Antoine Bouquegneau Manhal Izzy Pablo Ramírez
Olivier Brugiere Spenser January Raja Rashid
Marcos Buj Erik Groot Jebbink Joanna Raszeja-Wyszomirska
Patrizia Burra Jan Philipp Jonas Tomas Reischig
Roberto Cacciola Yashutosh Joshi Jose Otto Reusing Junior
Rossana Caldara Thomas Jouve Jinsoo Rhu
Jasper Callemeyn Wolfgang Jungraithmayr James Richards
Diego Cantarovich Ivana Juric Paul Ritschl
Lucio Careddu Nassim Kamar Valentin Ritschl
Chiara Catelli Hannah Kaminski John Roberts
Miriam Cortés Cerisuelo Nada Kanaan Manuel Rodríguez-Perálvarez
Matteo Cescon Nikolaos Karydis (Karidis) Gianluca Rompianesi
Ernest G Chan Martin Kauke-Navarro Md Alberto Rosati
Xavier Charmetant Brendan Keating Olivier Roux
Efstratios Chatzixiros Hussein Khambalia Maria Jose Perez Saez
Bertrand Chauveau Yoshitaka Kinoshita Berta Saez-Gimenez
Yee Lee Cheah Simon Knight Andrew Sage
Xiaomeng Chen Takaaki Kobayashi Mustafa Kursat Sahin
Mikael Chetboun Alice Koenig Faouzi Saliba
Oriana Ciacio Dionysios Koliogiannis Jadranka Pavičić Šarić
Umberto Cillo Konstantinos Koutroutsos Marco Schiavon
Benjamin Coiffard Philipp Dominique Kron Roland Schmitt
Nicolina Conti Aleksandra Kukla Sameep Sehgal
Matthew Cooper Vinay Kumaran Rajeevan Selvaratnam
David Cooper Nicholas Küng Alp Sener
Alice Corbel Chitaru Kurihara Rakesh Sethapati
Emanuele Cozzi Niclas Kvarnstrom Sadhana Shankar
David Cucchiari Yong Kyong Kwon Adnan Sharif
Sílvia Gomes da Silva Marie-Camille Lafargue Ankit Sharma
Sunil Daga Rita Leal Lena Sibulesky
Raja Dandamudi Jong Soo Lee Farjad Siddiqui
José Davide Per Lindner Alberto Costa Silva
Luis Gustavo Modelli de Andrade Sandra Lindstedt Ksenija Vucur Simic
Marieke T de Boer Guangxiang Liu Rajesh Sivaprakasam
Sabina de Geest Francesco Locatelli Renaud Snanoudj
Margriet de Jong Andrea Lombardi Mario Spaggiari
Jose Luis Campo-Cañaveral de La Cruz Ibai Los-Arcos Peter Stock
Annelies de Weerd Jessica Lum Robert Stratta
Silvia Deaglio John MacArthur Yiliam Fundora Suárez
Rebecca Deans Umberto Maggiore Harikesh Subramanian
Arnaud Del Bello Manuel Maglione Diana Sukackiene
Tommaso di Maira Christian T. J. Magyar Kalathil Sureshkumar
Gonzalo Díaz-Cobacho Beatriz Mahillo Caner Süsal
Laura Dichiacchio Angeles Maillo-Nieto Andrew Sutherland
Fritz Diekmann Rahul Mainra Anat R Tambur
Frank J.M.F. Dor Paolo Malvezzi Yakup Tanriver
Didier Dorez Nizam Mamode Helen Te
Pedro Augusto Reck dos Santos Wenjun Mao Marta Tejedor
Genady Drozdinsky Lorenzo Marconi Inga Strand Thorsen
Geoffrey Dube Christian Margreiter Claire Tinel
Halise Taşkın Duman Marco Masetti Samuel Tingle
Richard Dumbill Emma Massey Francesca Tinti
Jerome Dumortier Marie Matignon Giusy Tiseo
Magdalena Durlik Xavier Matillon Pierluigi Toniutto
Philipp Dutkowski Katharina A. Mayer Burkhard Tönshoff
Janina Eden Micheal Mcinnis Lada Trajceska
Sofia el Hajji Cely Medeiros Vasiliki Tsarpali
Michelle Elias Francisco lópez Medrano Cynthia Tsien
Andreas Elmer Zhongcheng Mei Andreas Tzakis
Mohamed Eltemamy Raphael Meier David Rodriguez-Arias Vailhen
Juliet Emamaullee Madhav C Menon Joris Van De Klundert
Eric Epailly Shaheed Merani Lorena Van Den Bogaart
Olivier Epaulard Marco Merli Teun Van Gelder
Pauline Erpicum Benoît Mesnard Deborah Verran
Dilmurodjon Eshmuminov Alberto Molina-Pérez Ondrej Viklicky
Letizia lo Faro Michele Molinari Carmen Vinaixa
Mario Fernández-Ruiz Jose Morales Julien Vionnet
Carla Ferrandiz-Pulido Alfonso Morcillo Jonathan Visentin
Alberto Ferrarese Francesc J Moreso Fabio Vistoli
Paolo Ferrari Midas Berend Mulder Ashley Vo
Joana Ferrer-Fábrega Elmi Muller Robin Vos
Constanca Figueiredo William Mulley Jennifer Wainright
Konrad Fischer Sarwa Darwish Murad Charles-Henri Wassmer
Yohann Foucher Silvio Nadalin Bettina Wiegmann
Helene Francois Nalu Navarro-Alvarez Felicity Williams
Ilaria Gandolfini Bashoo Naziruddin Colin Wilson
Dale Gardiner Flavia Neri Tiffany Wong
Brad Gardiner Arne Neyrinck Germaine Wong
Cyril Garrouste Jan Niesing Zachary Yetmar
Philippe Gatault Tom Nieto Kenneth Yong
Milo Gatti Michiel Nijhoff Bo Yu
a

Special thanks to our 14 top reviewers.

Funding Statement

The author(s) declared that financial support was not received for this work and/or its publication.

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