CHARLES R. DREW UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE & SCIENCE​

Development of Media-Based Intervention to Increase African American use of Paired Kidney Transplant Donor Chains

In the face of persistently higher rates of End-Stage Renal Disease in African-Americans. Unfortunately, disparities also persist in access to transplantation and living donation amongst this group. Approaches to increasing the availability of living donor kidneys include paired donations, donor chains, and transplantation from live non-directed donations or altruistic donors which may serve to reduce disparities in kidney transplantation access. Grantee aims to review the current evidence and explore themes associated with barriers and facilitators to African-American participation in paired donations and chains. Grantee will also engage stakeholders, including paired donors and recipients, transplant care providers, content experts, and scripted narrative writers in an effort to develop content in support of using media such as a film or series designed to create awareness and increase participation of African-Americans in paired donation and donor chain efforts.

Principal Investigator: Roberto Vargas, MD, MPH
Awarded: September 2018
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $77,245

CENTRE HOSPITALIER UNIVERSITAIRE VAUDOIS, LAUSANNE​

Benefits of Hydrogen Sulfide in Kidney Transplantation​

The shortage of kidneys for transplantation forces to use an increasing number of marginal donors. However, their use remains limited because these organs suffer extended ischemic periods, are more susceptible to ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), and at risk of graft dysfunction with poor long-term survival. Grantee proposes to:

Aim 1. Test the benefits of H2S against IRI using our preclinical pig kidney transplant model.
Aim 2. Determine the relationship between serum H2S production and transplanted kidney function in humans, using the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study (STCS); a prospective multicenter cohort project started 10 years ago.​

Principal Investigator: Alban Longchamp, MD, PhD
Awarded: September  2018
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $67,810

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO​

Immune Dysfunction in the Older Kidney Transplant Recipient

This project seeks to measure immune dysfunction in the older kidney transplant recipient to attempt to determine the mechanism of increased vulnerability to infection and death in this growing group of patients and develop methods of individualization of immune suppression.Grantee will utilize flow cytometry to characterize T cell immune senescence and exhaustion and analysis of changes in gene expression in peripheral blood to identify the immunologic profile associated with adverse clinical outcomes and how immune suppression deferentially affects older as compared with younger patients.

Principal Investigator: Joanna Schaenman, MD, PhD
Awarded: February 2018
Duration: 24 months
Amount of Award: $110,678

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO​

Genetic Cellular Engineering Strategy to Reduce Allograft Immunogenicity and Enhance Histocompatibility Resulting in Long-term Graft Function and Survival

Creating hypo-immunogenetic tissues for transplantation not only of allogeneic but also autologous iPS cell (and their derivatives) is important because DNA and mtDNA mutations and genetic instability associated with reprogramming and expansion of iPSCs can also create minor antigens relevant to immune rejection. Grantee generated human hypo-immunogenetic hiPSCs (hiPSC-hypo) which survives in allogeneic humanized mice and xenogeneic mice. Grantee would like to demonstrate their clinical potential by transplanting them into macaque.

Principal Investigator: Sonja Schrepfer, MD, PhD
Awarded: February 2018
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $150,000

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, EDMONTON​

Molecular Diagnosis of Rejection Phenotypes in Lung Transplant Biopsies​

Development of microarray-based tests for improved diagnosis of rejection and chronic dysfunction of lung transplants.

Principal Investigator: Phillip F. Halloran, MD, PhD
Project Title:  Awarded: February 2018
Duration: 12 months
Amount of Award: $100,000