New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network's Transplant Laboratory is a fully-accredited, certified testing lab. The Transplant Lab was founded in 1987 and operates under the umbrella of NJ Organ and Tissue Sharing Network the non-profit, federally-funded organ procurement organization for the state of New Jersey. The lab performs a range of services for the public like histocompatibility testing, infectious disease testing, DNA testing as well as paternity testing services. This lab is also credited for saving the lives of over 6,000 New Jersey's residents through state of the art matching for organ and tissue donors and recipients.
NJ Sharing Network’s Position on
Infectious Disease Testing
NJ Sharing Network’s Transplant Laboratory extensively screens potential donors for viruses and infectious diseases including HIV (AIDS) and hepatitis among others. Screening identifies risks of transmittable diseases. In addition to testing that is compliant with United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), NJ Sharing Network has adopted the more stringent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) screening procedures required for tissue donors and modeled after those used for blood donor screening. Our laboratory utilizes the Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) as well as employing a newer platform, Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing (NAT), that can detect viral genetic material directly and earlier than the ELISA screening methods. NAT which is FDA approved for organ and tissue donor screening, is able to detect genetic material of viruses like HIV without waiting for the body to form antibodies. NAT is not widely available nor is it required by UNOS for solid organ donor screening; however, NJ Sharing Network’s Transplant Lab has been performing NAT testing on solid organ donors since early 2005. The transmission of infectious diseases through organ and tissue transplantation is an extremely rare occurrence and no test can detect every early viral infection. However, by utilizing both ELISA and NAT, NJ Sharing Network is confident that we are providing the most sensitive and reliable donor screening tests currently available.
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