A blood test to predict risk after a liver transplant
Official title: Multi-Center Validation and Biologic Assessment of a Novel Pre-Transplant Biomarker Panel to Predict Liver Transplant Recipient Mortality
Funded at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences · NIH-11195036 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will find out whether a short blood panel called the Liver Immune Frailty Index can identify people waiting for liver transplant who are at high risk of dying within a year after surgery.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Newark, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | September 20, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $677,481 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK137222-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11195036 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults who are listed for or being evaluated for liver transplant at participating transplant centers would be the main candidates for this work.
✕Less likely to help
People without liver disease or those not being considered for liver transplant would not be expected to benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If you are listed for a liver transplant, researchers will measure a small set of blood markers (including HCV IgG, fractalkine, and MMP3) to calculate a Liver Immune Frailty Index (LIFI). The team will collect samples and clinical data across multiple transplant centers to see if the LIFI predicts early death after transplant as well as it did in their earlier study. They will also study immune cell energy use and signs of immune exhaustion to understand why a high LIFI score is linked to poor outcomes. In addition, investigators will look at how immune frailty changes over time while people are on the transplant waiting list.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help doctors spot patients unlikely to benefit from transplant and guide better use of donor livers and pre-transplant care.
How similar studies have gone: Early single-center work showed promising results (LIFI distinguished low vs high one-year mortality with a c-statistic ~0.84), but broader multicenter validation is still needed.
Where this research is happening
-
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Newark, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lunsford, Keri Elizabeth — Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Lunsford, Keri Elizabeth
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Innate and Adaptive Immunoregulation in Liver Transplant Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury
A liver transplant-focused project investigates how the body’s early and later immune responses affect transplant failure or success after reperfusion.
-
Biomarker-guided reduction of immunosuppression after liver transplant
A multicenter trial tests whether using blood biomarkers to guide tapering of immunosuppression in adults with liver transplants can keep people healthy while lowering drug exposure.
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Understanding how liver disease progresses in people waiting for a liver transplant
A study will build a knowledge base that maps how liver disease worsens over time in patients on the transplant waitlist to improve care and planning.
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Biomarkers to tailor liver transplant immunosuppression
A multi-center study using blood biomarkers to guide how immunosuppressive drugs are given to liver transplant patients.
-
Pre-Transplant Immune Health Marker Panel to Predict Liver Transplant Outcomes
A patient-facing biomarker test used before liver transplant to help doctors estimate the risk of early death after the transplant.
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Thinking skills and self-care after a liver transplant
This project follows people who received liver transplants to learn how changes in thinking and memory affect managing medicines, clinic visits, and overall health.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.