The role of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) 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; to oversee the coordination of the OPTN and SRTR Data Working Group³; 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 SAC shall advise the SRTR staff, the joint OPTN and SRTR Data Working Group, the OPTN Board of Directors and the various OPTN committees, sub-committees and working groups⁴ and the Department of Health and Human Services on issues that affect:

1. the clinical and scientific data needed to support the functions of the SRTR and OPTN to include enhanced data collected about transplant candidate and transplant recipient morbidity and functional impairment;
2. data collected and reported concerning the cost and/or resource utilization associated with transplantation;
3. research to be conducted by the SRTR Contractor to include the work to be conducted in support of the OPTN and the Secretary's Advisory Committee;
4. objectives, approach and methods for research projects that shall be performed by the SRTR Contractor including the ongoing reports of organ procurement organization and transplant program-specific data to include the use of appropriate performance measures and risk adjustment methodologies;
5. methods, content and format of ongoing SRTR reports;
6. 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.;
7. new areas of research that should be addressed; and
8. research reports and articles submitted to peer-reviewed journals.

The Contractor shall maintain all support functions necessary to support the SAC.

An amendment to the Bylaws shall require the favorable vote of a majority of the SAC members; however, any such amendment must also be approved by the Contractor and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Project Officer⁵.

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 University Renal Research and Education Association (URREA), 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 Data Working Group is an expert committee convened by the OPTN contractor to advise the SRTR and OPTN contractors about which data should be collected to support the operation of the OPTN and to futher the state of the art in solid organ transplantation research.

⁴The Contractor may establish and dissolve sub-committees and working groups as necessary, and it may modify the role of the SAC and any sub-committee and working group to address changing conditions.

⁵The 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. Michael Dreis.

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