Better ways to find heart transplant rejection in children
Official title: Predictive modeling of acute rejection in pediatric heart transplant recipients
Funded at Vanderbilt University Medical Center · NIH-11109734 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This research aims to find less invasive and more accurate ways to detect when a child's body is rejecting a new heart.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Vanderbilt University Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Nashville, United States) |
| Project start | July 15, 2022 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $678,800 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL164995-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11109734 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This research is relevant for pediatric patients who have received a heart transplant and are at risk for acute rejection.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who have not undergone a pediatric heart transplant or are not at risk for acute rejection would not directly benefit from this specific research.
What this research studies
Currently, doctors often need to perform a heart biopsy, which is an invasive procedure, to check for rejection in children who have received a heart transplant. This can carry risks like complications from anesthesia or damage to the heart. Our goal is to develop new methods using blood tests and advanced MRI scans to spot rejection without needing a biopsy. We are looking at specific markers in the blood and detailed patterns in MRI images to see if they can reliably tell us when rejection is happening.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to safer and more comfortable ways to monitor pediatric heart transplant patients, reducing the need for invasive biopsies.
How similar studies have gone: Some blood markers and preliminary MRI data have shown promise in detecting rejection, suggesting this approach builds on existing potential.
Where this research is happening
-
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Soslow, Jonathan Harvey — Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Soslow, Jonathan Harvey
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Predicting acute rejection in children after heart transplant
A study to improve how doctors predict if a child who has had a heart transplant will have acute rejection using noninvasive blood markers and advanced heart MRI analysis.
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Improving detection of acute rejection in children who have heart transplants
This study is looking for safer ways to check for heart transplant rejection in kids by using blood tests and special imaging instead of needing risky biopsies, helping to keep young patients healthier and more comfortable.
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Immunological mechanisms behind treatment-resistant kidney transplant rejection
This grant explores why certain kidney transplant rejections don’t respond to standard treatments and what immune cells in the graft are driving that resistance.
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Understanding how BK virus links infection to kidney transplant rejection
This project looks at how BK polyomavirus reactivation affects kidney transplant patients and aims to use pre-transplant T cell information to tailor immunosuppression and monitoring.
-
Biomarkers to tailor liver transplant immunosuppression
A multi-center study using blood biomarkers to guide how immunosuppressive drugs are given to liver transplant patients.
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Pediatric Heart Pump to Let Kids Go Home While Waiting for Transplant
A new ultra-low-power pediatric heart pump is being developed so children awaiting a heart transplant can go home or live with the device.
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.