Helping people find and support living kidney donors using phone and mobile navigation
Promoting Increases in Living Organ Donation via Tele-navigation (PILOT)
This project uses phone calls and a mobile app to help people who need a kidney and their family or friends understand and navigate living donor donation.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | New York University School of Medicine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11303745 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you need a kidney, this program offers tele-navigation where trained navigators contact potential donors by phone and through a mobile app to provide education and coaching. The approach separates the asking role from the transplant candidate so loved ones don’t have to be the sole advocates. It focuses on people in rural and low-resource areas, especially in the southeastern US, and adds supports to increase donor comfort with the medical evaluation. The team will track donor inquiries, completion of donor evaluations, and whether more patients receive living donor transplants.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are people listed for or approaching the need for a kidney transplant and their family members or friends who might consider living donation, particularly those in rural or low-resource areas.
Not a fit: People who already have an identified living donor, are not seeking transplantation, or are medically ineligible for transplant or donation are unlikely to benefit from this program.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the program could help more patients get living donor kidneys sooner by increasing donor inquiries and completed donor evaluations.
How similar studies have performed: Similar navigator and advocacy programs in resource-rich urban centers increased donor inquiries, but this project adapts those approaches for rural and low-resource settings and adds donor-focused supports.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- New York University School of Medicine — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Segev, Dorry L. — New York University School of Medicine
- Study coordinator: Segev, Dorry L.
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 below.