Helping kidney transplant candidates make informed decisions about organ offers
Official title: Shared decision making for kidney transplant candidates to plan for an organ offer decision
Funded at Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute · NIH-10991037 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This study is all about helping people waiting for kidney transplants feel more confident and informed when deciding about organ offers, by bringing together patients, their families, and doctors to talk things through and make the process less stressful.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Minneapolis, United States) |
| Project start | December 15, 2022 |
| Project end | November 30, 2025 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $244,570 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK134482-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-10991037 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for this research are individuals on the kidney transplant waiting list who may face challenges in making decisions about organ offers.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who are not on the kidney transplant waiting list or those who have already received a transplant may not benefit from this research.
What this research studies
This research focuses on improving the decision-making process for patients waiting for kidney transplants. It aims to implement shared decision-making (SDM) strategies that involve patients, their families, and healthcare providers in discussions about organ offers. By addressing the anxiety and confusion that often accompany these decisions, the project seeks to enhance patient understanding and retention of information regarding donor organs. The goal is to reduce the number of declined offers and improve patient outcomes by ensuring that candidates are better prepared to make timely decisions when organ offers arise.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this research could lead to increased acceptance of kidney donor offers, ultimately improving survival rates for patients on the transplant waiting list.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research has shown that shared decision-making approaches can improve patient outcomes in various medical contexts, suggesting potential success for this method in kidney transplantation.
Where this research is happening
-
Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute
Minneapolis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Schaffhausen, Cory R — Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute
- Study coordinator: Schaffhausen, Cory R
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Improving decision-making for older adults considering kidney transplants
This study is all about helping older adults who are thinking about getting a kidney transplant by listening to their experiences and those of their families and doctors, so we can make the process easier and more supportive for everyone involved.
-
Microbial clues to diagnose and predict infections in kidney transplant patients
A patient-focused project will look for microbial biomarkers in stool, blood, and urine to help doctors predict and diagnose infections in people who have had a kidney transplant.
-
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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Complement-Bound Exosomes and Kidney Transplant Immunity
This project studies how kidney transplant injury and rejection happen after surgery and whether blocking certain immune pathways during organ preservation could improve transplant outcomes.
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Blood vessel signals predicting heart problems after kidney transplant
This project studies blood markers and tissue patterns after kidney transplants to identify which patients are at highest risk of cardiovascular problems.
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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.
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.