2024 ASTS Research Grants Recipients

Every year, the ASTS Foundation awards research grants to dedicated transplant professionals. Our grants are only possible with the support of our corporate partners and the contributions of our members!

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Cutaia

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maya Clark-Cutaia, PhD, ACNP-BC

Hunter Bellevue College of Nursing

Pregnancy outcomes in female transplant recipients who reported being COVID-19 positive during pregnancy.

 

Coscia 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa Coscia, RN, BSN, CCTC, FAST

Hunter Bellevue College of Nursing

Pregnancy outcomes in female transplant recipients who reported being COVID-19 positive during pregnancy.

Weldon

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elaina Weldon, MD, ACNP-BC

New York University Langone Transplant Institute

What are the educational tools being utilized for care partners during kidney transplant evaluations at transplant centers across the United States?

*ASTS gratefully acknowledges Veloxis as our funding partner for this award in 2024.  

Kim

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steven Kim, MD

Emory University

Investigating the Role of NK Cells in a Preclinical Model of Pig-to-Nonhuman Primate Xenotransplantation

ASTS Ronald & JoAnn Busuttil Surgeon Scientist Scholarship

merola

Jonathan Merola, MD, PhD

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Targeted CRISPR/Cas9 RNA Nanoparticle Delivery for Elimination of Class I and II MHC on Human Kidney Endothelial Cells Via Normothermic Machine Perfusion.

*ASTS gratefully acknowledges Veloxis as our funding partner for this award.

Cina

 

 

 

 

 

 

Davide Cina, MD, PhD

Emory University

Immune Risk Stratification and Monitoring of Renal Transplant Patients on Belatacept with Time-Limited Tacrolimus.

ASTS-Gift of Life Socio Economic & Racial Disparity Grant

 

*ASTS gratefully acknowledges Gift of Life as our funding partner for this award.
Sandoval

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pedro Rodrigo Sandoval, MD

Columbia University Medical Center

Columbia University Kidney Transplant Spanish Language Program.

*ASTS gratefully acknowledges Takeda as our funding partner for this award.

Thalji

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nassir Thalji, PhD

Methodist Transplant Institute 

Bridging the Gap in Living donor Kidney transplantation (BIG LINK): An Initiative Towards Understanding Perceptions Of and Augmenting Opportunities for Living Donor Kidney Transplantation in Hispanic Patients with Inadequate Health Literacy.

Adler

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joel Adler, MD, MPH

University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School

Evaluation of Kidney Allocation after KAS250 for Patients, Centers, and OPOs.

Parast 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Layla Parast, PhD

University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School

Evaluation of Kidney Allocation after KAS250 for Patients, Centers, and OPOs.

Aljabban

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imad Aljabban, MD

Columbia University

Physiologic and Integrative Multi-Omic Profiling of Long-Term Porcine-To-Human Renal Xenotransplantation.

ASTS-TransMedics Faculty Perfusion Grant

ASTS gratefully acknowledges TransMedics as a funding partner for this grant. 

Brubaker

Aleah Brubaker, MD, PhD

University of California San Diego

Expanding utilization of DCD liver allografts with prolonged warm ischemic injury by defining the role of normothermic machine perfusion on PPAR signaling and HSC-mediated fibrosis

Sayed

Blayne Sayed, MD, PhD

Toronto General Hospital 

Targeting human liver ischemia-reperfusion injury with NINJ1-directed therapy during ex vivo normothermic perfusion.

Bruner

Julia Bruner

University of Florida

Torque teno virus to guide Phenotypic Personalized Medicine optimization of immunosuppression following liver transplantation

* Sponsored by Dr. Elizabeth Pomfret and Dr. Jim Pomposelli

Kaplan 

Zachary Kaplan

 Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Extended Criteria Donor Utilization Logistics and Outcomes for Portable Hypothermic Oxygenated Machine Perfusion

*Sponsored by Dr. Jayme Locke

 
Kettelkamp 

Joshua Kettelkamp

University of Iowa

Choosing Immunosuppressant regimens in kidney Transplant by Efficacy and Morbidity (CISTEM) Model Enhancement: Integrating Machine Learning for Dynamic Longitudinal Management.

 
 
Lohmar 

Brendan Lohman

The George Washington University 

Investigating the Role of Fibroblastic Reticular Cells (FRC) in Regulating T- cell Responses to Allograft via the CD40-CD40 Ligand Pathway.

*Sponsored by Dr. Ginny Bumgardner

Ngo 

Tran Ngo

University of Florida College of Medicine

Exploring the Immunoregulatory Functions of Cross-Presenting XCR1+ Dendritic Cells in Hepatic Ischemic-Reperfusion Injury: Insights for Enhancing Transplant Tolerance.

*Sponsored by Dr. Linda Cendales

nguyen

Alexander Nguyen

Creighton University School of Medicine

Investigating the Role of Hepatic Draining Lymph Nodes in Tumor Immunity Against Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Liver Transplantation

*Sponsored by ASTS Members

Seung

Chris Seung

Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California

Defining the peripheral signature of immune exhaustion during acute rejection in pediatric liver transplantation

 Singh 

Pranay Singh

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Utilizing spatial transcriptomics to study the pathophysiology of Fontan-associated liver disease

*Sponsored by ASTS Members