The role of the SRTR Technical Advisory Committee (S-TAC) is to guide and review the research activities of the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) Contractor¹; to review and approve publications by the SRTR and joint publications by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)² and SRTR; and to provide scientific guidance and support to the OPTN and the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation.

The S-TAC, primarily through discussion, shall advise the SRTR staff, the joint OPTN Policy Oversight Committee, the OPTN Board of Directors and the various OPTN committees, sub-committees and working groups,³ and the Department of Health and Human Services on issues that affect:

• Methodologies needed to support the functions of the SRTR and OPTN;
  
• Research to be conducted by the SRTR Contractor that includes the work in support of the OPTN and the Secretary’s ACOT;
  
• Objectives, design, and methods for research projects that will be performed by the SRTR Contractor including the ongoing reports of OPTN and transplant program-specific data that include the use of appropriate performance measures and risk adjustment methodologies;
  
• Methods, content, and format of ongoing SRTR reports;
  
• Methods, content, and format for the Annual Report and the Biennial Report to Congress of the Clinical and Scientific Status of Organ Donation and Transplantation in the U.S.;
  
• New areas of research that should be addressed; and
  
• Research reports and articles submitted to peer-reviewed journals.
  

In addition, for issues where consensus is not reached, vote counts will be recorded for subsequent consideration by the SRTR contractor and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Project Officer. 

The Contractor shall maintain all support functions necessary to support the S-TAC.

An amendment to the Bylaws shall require the favorable vote of a majority of the S-TAC members; however, any such amendment must also be approved by the Contractor and the Project Officer⁴.

Footnotes

¹The SRTR is a contract awarded by HRSA to evaluate the ongoing clinical and scientific status of solid organ transplantation in the United States. The SRTR Contractor is currently Arbor Research Collaborative for Health , herin referred to as the Contractor.

²The OPTN is a contract to improve the effectiveness of the organ donation, procurement and transplantation system in the United States. The OPTN contractor is currently the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

³The Contractor may establish and dissolve sub-committees and working groups as necessary, and it may modify the role of the S-TAC and any sub-committee and working group to address changing conditions.

⁴The Project Officer is the duly authorized representative of HRSA who ensures that the Government’s technical objectives are met. The current Project Officer is Dr. Gregory Fant.