UHC researchers to help organ transplant patients
CLEVELAND -- University
Hospitals of Cleveland, the Cleveland Clinic, and Case Western Reserve
University School of Medicine will share a five-year, $10 million grant
from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to
launch a new national consortium to study ways to improve organ
transplantation.
The Cleveland organizations will launch one of three new organ
transplant consortiums funded by the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Disease (NIAID), which is a part of the National Institutes
of Health. The other consortiums will be anchored by the University of
Pennsylvania and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Don Hricik, M.D., of University
Hospitals of Cleveland will serve as the study's clinical director. Dr.
Hricik is medical director of University Hospitals' Renal Transplant
Program and chief of its Division of Nephrology and Hypertension. He
also is a professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University.
"The central roles of University Hospitals of Cleveland and The
Cleveland Clinic in this research consortium represent a unique
collaborative effort between two outstanding organ transplant programs
and should provide pioneering data that will enhance the lives of organ
transplant recipients," Dr. Hricik said.
The consortium anchored by the Cleveland institutions also will include
Emory University in Georgia, Yale University in Connecticut and The
University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.
Peter Heeger, M.D., of The Cleveland Clinic will serve as principal
investigator of a study conducted by the consortium to determine how to
improve the transplantation process. Dr. Heeger is a member of the
Clinic's Department of Immunology, Transplantation Center and Glickman
Urologic Institute.
"The goal of the study is to identify non-invasive tests that will
predict transplant outcomes and thereby permit more individualized
therapy," Dr. Heeger said. "This study is possible because of the
collaboration among The Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve
University and University Hospitals of Cleveland."
All of the institutions participating in the consortium will study
patients who receive heart and kidney transplants to identify ways to
improve outcomes. Kidney transplants last an average of 10 years, while
heart transplants last an average of five years. If researchers can
predict which patients will reject their organs before the rejection
occurs -- using noninvasive blood or urine tests --
medications could be changed as needed to improve outcomes. Similarly,
if patients are at low risk for rejection, they could be given lower
drug levels, thereby limiting side effects, Dr. Heeger said.
According to the Organ Procurement Transplantation Network, more than
25,000 organ transplants were performed in the United States in 2003
and, as of August 2004, more than 86,000 people are on waiting lists
for organs including hearts, lungs, kidneys and intestines.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is
part of the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. NIAID supports basic and
applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases
such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza,
tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential agents of
bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on transplantation and
immune-related illnesses, including autoimmune disorders, asthma and
allergies.
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Posted on Monday, September 13, 2004 (Archive on Monday, September 20, 2004) |
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