VIRACOR-IBT LABORATORIES, INC.​

Universal Noninvasive Detection of Solid Organ Transplant Rejection

Grantee proposes a prospective study of renal transplant recipients, where quantitative detection of donor cell-free DNA in the plasma of the recipient may prove a potential early and non-invasive assay for early detection of organ rejection. If studies confirm that early detection of impending rejection (as verified by biopsies) is possible and could provide a window of time for rapid treatment to prevent rejection, Grantee believes it could affect clinical outcomes in the renal transplant field, as well for other solid organ transplants.

Principal Investigator: Maralyn Smith, PhD
Awarded: September 2015
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $50,000

WESTERN UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES​

Glycosylation pattern as a novel diagnostic marker for antibody mediated rejection in kidney transplant patients​

This project aims to develop a novel diagnostic marker for antibody mediated rejection employing the differential glycosylation pattern of donor specific antibodies as an indicator for the prognosis of antibody mediated rejection. This project will provide new clinical model of AMR, which can be directly applied to the management AMR and development of new therapies.

Principal Investigator: David Min, PharmD, FCCP, FASHP
Awarded: September 2015
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $49,575

MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL – HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Building transplantable intestine from patient derived cells

The objective of the project is to create a novel small animal model of functional human stem cell derived small intestine.

Principal Investigator: Kentaro Kitano, MD, PhD
Awarded: September 2015
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $50,000

MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL – HARVARD UNIVERSITY​

Inducing pulomonary microvascular specification from hiPSCs by resembling their native niche

Grantee proposes to generate lung-specific endothelial cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells for transplantable lung regeneration by recapitulating lung vascular niches in vitro. This is a critical step towards engineering autologous pulmonary vasculature enabling long-term lung function.

Principal Investigator: Xi Ren, PhD.
Duration: 12 months
Awarded: September 2015
Amount of Award: $50,000

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY​

Prehabilitation for Adults with End-Stage Renal Disease on the Kidney Transplant Waitlist

Grantee plans to conduct a single center study of prehabilitation for adults with End Stage Renal Disease on the KT Waitlist. Grantee will test: 1 )the feasibility of administering prehabilitation to adults with ESRD who are within 3-6 months of a KT and 2) whether prehabilitation has a positive impact on postoperative recovery in frail and non-frail KT recipients, as well as short- and long-term outcomes in KT recipients.

Principal Investigator: Mara McAdams DeMarco, PhD
Awarded: September 2015
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $50,000

VIRACOR-IBT LABORATORIES, INC.​

Epidemiology of a new anthropod-transmitted virus: first assessment of Chikungunya virus (ChikV) prevalence among deceased organ and tissue donors

ChikV infection emerged in the Caribbean basin in December 2013, and since then has been documented in nearly 3000 US residents who traveled to the Caribbean or other parts of the world where ChikV is endemic. Grantee seeks to determine the prevalence of recent ChikV infection among Region 5 deceased donors by measuring ChikV IgM, a reliable marker of acute ChikV infection, in archived serum or plasma samples collected between November 2014 and March 2015.

Principal Investigator: Harry Prince, PhD
Awarded: September 2015
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $23,000

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY/UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SCHOOL​

Screening Deceased Organ Donors for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Viruses with Nucleic Acid Testing

Grantee plans to identify the number of additional HIV, HBV, and HCV infections detected when NAT is used in addition to routine serology as compared to serology alone in deceased organ donor screening by collecting primary data from the 58 U.S. organ procurement organizations and secondary data from the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network database. Grantee will use this information to compare the organ utilization rates between donors screen with NAT and those screened with serology alone.

Principal Investigator: Nicole Theodorpolous, MD
Awarded: February 2015
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $50,000​

DONOR NETWORK WEST (CALIFORNIA TRANSPLANT DONOR NETWORK)​

Prevalence in Coccidiodomycosis in Population of Organ Donation at a Single Organ Procurement Organization

In 2014, two CTDN donors have unfortunately transmitted cocci to two organ recipients, resulting in one fatality. Grantee proposes to help establish guidelines to help prevent future transmission of coccidioidomycosis to future organ donor recipients.

Principal Investigator: Nikole Neidlinger, MD
Awarded: February 2015
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $50,000

VIRACOR -IBT LABORATORIES, INC.​

Donors with isolated (“HBcAB only”) antibodies to HBV nucleocapsid seropositivity: true evidence for past exposure or laboratory artifacts?​

Grantee intends to establish the feasibility of HBcAb confirmatory assay, to gather the data about prevalence of false HBcAb seropositivity among organ and tissue donors, and to estimate the magnitude of donor’s deferral following false positive HBcAb test results due to lack of confirmatory assay. Grantee expects the data will contribute to fewer donors deferral due to false positive HBcAb test results.

Principal Investigator: Marek Nowicki, PhD
Awarded: February 2015
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $21,529

VIRACOR -IBT LABORATORIES, INC.​

Improving the Identification of HLA Antibodies: The IgG Subclass Assay

To develop the IgG Subclass Luminex Single Antigen Assay, which is used to identify and assess the risk of anti-HLA antibodies in the blood of organ transplant recipients. Grantee also plans to develop an improved flow crossmatch assay which utilizes IgG subclass-specific antibodies.

Principal Investigator: James Cicciarelli, PhD
Awarded: February 2015
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $25,120