Inflammation after organ transplant
Official title: Post-Transplant Inflammatory Response
Funded at Cleveland Clinic Lerner Com-Cwru · NIH-11232325 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Looking at how prior immune memory cells and tissue damage from low blood flow cause inflammation that can harm transplanted organs in people receiving solid organ transplants.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Cleveland Clinic Lerner Com-Cwru NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cleveland, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 1997 |
| Project end | November 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $521,522 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AI040459-27 |
| Project ID | NIH-11232325 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People planning to receive or who recently received a solid organ transplant (for example, kidney or heart) and willing to provide blood or tissue samples.
✕Less likely to help
People without a transplant or those many years after a stable transplant with no signs of rejection are unlikely to benefit directly from this work.
What this research studies
If you're getting an organ transplant, this research looks at why transplanted organs become inflamed and injured soon after surgery. The team compares organs that were stored longer before transplant to those with shorter storage, tracks donor-reactive memory CD4 and CD8 T cells, and measures inflammatory molecules such as IFN-γ in graft tissue and blood. They use patient blood and tissue samples alongside lab models of transplantation to see how ischemia-reperfusion injury and memory T cells interact to cause rejection. The goal is to identify signals that could be blocked to protect grafts and improve long-term outcomes.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could lead to ways to reduce early inflammation and lower the risk of acute rejection, improving transplant survival.
How similar studies have gone: Earlier animal and observational human studies have linked donor-reactive memory T cells and ischemia-reperfusion injury to worse graft outcomes, but the specific mechanisms this project targets remain to be worked out.
Where this research is happening
-
Cleveland Clinic Lerner Com-Cwru
Cleveland, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Fairchild, Robert L — Cleveland Clinic Lerner Com-Cwru
- Study coordinator: Fairchild, Robert L
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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.