The National University Centre for Organ Transplantation (NUCOT) launched the inaugural Tree Planting Legacy Project, ‘Tree of Life: Where New Life Takes Root’ at the National University Hospital (NUH) on 26 May 2025.
SINGAPORE — This year, the National University Centre for Organ Transplantation (NUCOT) is launching the inaugural Tree Planting Legacy Project, ‘Tree of Life: Where New Life Takes Root’ on 26 May 2025 at the National University Hospital (NUH), to commemorate the invaluable sacrifices made by organ donors, and to raise awareness about the life-changing impact of organ donation (please see Annex for profile stories).
Each tree planted will symbolise a living tribute – just as a tree grows strong from its roots, the gift of organ donation creates ripples of hope, renewal, and gratitude across generations. Apart from NUH, trees have also been planted at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Alexandra Hospital and Woodlands Health, as a collective gesture of support for organ donors.
More than 400 people in Singapore are currently on the national waiting list for an organ transplant, according to Live On.
Living organ donation, in particular, can shorten a recipient’s wait and improve patient outcomes. At public transplant centres, over 90 per cent of liver transplant patients do well one year after surgery. Research1 shows that receiving a living-donor liver confers a significant survival advantage and living donor liver transplantation recipients have more favourable outcomes2 , as compared to recipients of deceased donor liver transplants.
“Trees symbolise renewal and a new lease of life, made possible through the precious gift of organ donation,” says Adjunct Associate Professor Mark Muthiah, Medical Director & Senior Consultant, Adult Liver Transplantation Programme, NUCOT, NUH, who is also the Local Co-chair of the ILTS Scientific Programming Committee 2025. “Through concerted efforts in public education and advocacy, we hope that more individuals will consider being organ donors.”
The ‘Tree of Life: Where New Life Takes Root’ project is held in conjunction with the ILTS Annual Congress 2025 (the Congress) from 28 to 31 May 2025 — the first time the Congress is being hosted in Southeast Asia. It will be officiated by Guest of Honour Professor Kenneth Mak, Director-General of Health, Ministry of Health.
Spearheaded by NUCOT at NUH and supported by the SingHealth Duke-NUS Liver Transplant Centre and Mount Elizabeth Hospital, the Congress will serve as a vital catalyst for driving innovations in liver transplantation, fostering collaboration, and connecting the global liver transplant community.
Associate Professor Alfred Kow, Senior Consultant, Adult Liver Transplantation Programme, NUCOT, NUH and Local Chair of the ILTS Scientific Programming Committee 2025 said: “Today, through the dedication of our healthcare community and continuous technological advancements - from ABO-incompatible transplants to minimally invasive techniques for living donor liver transplantation, we have developed one of the most mature liver transplant ecosystems in the Southeast Asian region, with outcomes comparable to international centres.
“We are honoured to host the Congress and to contribute to the global effort by sharing best practices, strengthening partnerships, learning from the international community, and advancing the field of liver transplantation together.”
A distinctive highlight of this year’s Congress is the comprehensive transformation of the programme, to foster greater collaboration across the globe. In line with the theme of “Advancing Liver Transplantation: Embracing Innovation for the Future”, local experts such as Professor Dean Ho, Provost’s Chair Professor and Director of the Institute for Digital Medicine at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, will delve into the role of AI-driven precision medicine, in transforming the decision-making process for liver transplantation.
At the Congress, novel innovations such as minimally invasive surgeries and next-gen solutions involving biomaterials and biosensors will be presented. In recognition of the growing role of allied health professionals (AHPs) in liver transplantation, there will also be a workshop designed to engage AHPs around the world, facilitating an exchange of insights into their diverse responsibilities and offering an opportunity to share best practices.
In the spirit of the event, the 2025 ILTS Distinguished Service Award will be conferred at the opening ceremony, upon two eminent trailblazers in the field: Professor Sung-Gyu Lee, from Asan Medical Center, who pioneered living donor liver transplantation using a modified right robe graft for the first time globally in 1999, and Professor Lo Chung-mau, the Secretary of Health of the Government of Hong Kong. Professor Lo was the chair of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery at The University of Hong Kong.
The Congress will also feature 60 scientific sessions and more than 200 presentations from a distinguished lineup of leading experts from around the world, who will share their insights across the breadth of liver transplantation science and practice.
Professor Nazia Selzner, President of ILTS and Professor Valeria Mas, ILTS President-Elect and Chair of the ILTS Scientific Programming Committee 2025 will also be attending the Tree Planting Legacy Project, alongside representatives from NUH and organ donors and recipients.
For more information on the ILTS Annual Congress 2025, please visit https://ilts-congress.org/.
To download the PDF version of the media release, click here.
1Survival Benefit of Living-Donor Liver Transplant | Surgery | JAMA Surgery | JAMA Network
2Clinical Impacts of Donor Types of Living vs. Deceased Donors: Predictors of One-Year Mortality in Patients with Liver Transplantation - PMC
