How body fat and muscle affect recovery after lung transplant
The impact of body composition on peri-operative and patient-centered outcomes in lung transplantation.
This project looks at how body fat and muscle mass relate to recovery, complications, and quality of life for people getting lung transplants.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11383321 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you are a lung transplant candidate or recent recipient, this project follows people through the transplant period and measures body composition using tools like bioelectrical impedance (BIA), CT scans, and DXA. The team records surgical complications, primary graft dysfunction (PGD), survival, and patient-reported outcomes such as functioning and health-related quality of life over time. They will search for patterns such as sarcopenic obesity that may signal higher risk for poor recovery and test whether BIA can be a practical clinic tool. Results are intended to help identify patients who might benefit from targeted pre- or post-transplant care to improve outcomes.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults who are listed for lung transplantation or are in the early post-transplant period and can attend study visits for body composition testing and follow-up are ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People who are not undergoing lung transplantation, have other organ transplants, or cannot access participating transplant centers are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help identify patients at higher risk for complications and guide interventions to improve survival, recovery, and quality of life after lung transplant.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies, including prior work by this team, have linked obesity and low muscle mass to worse transplant outcomes, but using BIA to predict patient-reported outcomes and characterizing sarcopenic obesity is still relatively new.
Where this research is happening
San Francisco, United States
- University of California, San Francisco — San Francisco, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Singer, Jonathan Paul — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Singer, Jonathan Paul
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.