Grants
Overview & Goals
Kidney transplantation is the optimal treatment for patients with end-stage renal disease, usually increasing quality of life and survival. With very few new ESRD patients receiving a pre-emptive kidney transplant and with only a fraction ultimately receiving transplants, inventive new strategies to increase kidney donations and transplants are not only essential—but critical—to the survival of nearly 100,000 patients currently on the kidney transplant waitlist.
KTC since its inception has been committed to developing policy solutions and funding innovative and groundbreaking programs that can demonstrate and achieve a significant increase in kidney transplants.
In 2021, KTC developed a comprehensive grants program, inviting and encouraging over 500 organ procurement organizations, transplant centers, national kidney and transplant stakeholder groups, dialysis providers and organizations dedicated to increasing kidney transplants to submit innovative and groundbreaking ideas and projects for grant funding consideration.
Over 70 letters of intent were received and reviewed by KTC’s Expert Advisory Panel, comprised of medical experts, a kidney transplant recipient and an altruistic living kidney donor with technical, clinical, and quality expertise in the kidney transplant community. In the first phase of KTC’s grants program, the Expert Advisory Panel considered multiple factors when determining recipients, including diversity of approach, feasibility, innovation, and the potential to impactfully increase kidney transplants in a 24-month period.
KTC Grant Awardees
The competitive selection process resulted in five organizations receiving a total of $3 million in grants to further their research and development of methods to increase kidney donation.
KTC Grants
Cambridge85’s Bold New Model Increased Kidney Transplants
Cambridge85 received a grant to launch the DDIC program, creating transplant chains from deceased donors and expanding access through a scalable, innovative model.
Network for Hope Changed Kidney Transplants—And the Numbers Proved It
Network for Hope received a grant to pioneer in-flight pulsatile perfusion for kidney transport, significantly reducing discard rates and increasing transplants while setting a new national standard in organ preservation and equity.
How AI Rescued Kidneys Before They Were Wasted—And Why That Mattered
A research team funded by the Kidney Transplant Collaborative developed a machine learning toolkit that predicted hard-to-place kidneys in real time, reducing discards and improving transplant decision-making across 12 Organ Procurement Organizations.
HonorBridge’s Bold uDCD Protocol Expanded the Frontiers of Kidney Transplantation
HonorBridge received a grant to develop a rapid organ recovery protocol for uncontrolled circulatory death donors, resulting in successful kidney transplants and setting a new standard for innovation in emergency organ donation.
Transparency is Power: How a KTC-Funded Study Revolutionized Patient Education in Kidney Transplantation
Columbia University and Cleveland Clinic received a grant to study personalized transplant education, demonstrating that clear, timely communication significantly improved patient understanding and increased transplant rates.
It is essential that the kidney transplant community continue to aggressively explore innovative new kidney transplant methods, strategies and programs that can be implemented at the state, regional and federal level to significantly increase kidney donation and transplantation.
Grants Program Questions
Roey Ahram, Ph.D.
Grants Administrator
rahram@kidneytransplantcollaborative.com
202-508-1470