The two projects will focus on identifying how certain drugs work in improving heart transplant outcomes in children and how changes to medication can improve survival among these children.
“Reducing Transplant Graft Dysfunction Through Targeted Immunosuppression” at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., led by Karim Sallam, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine, and Seth Hollander, M.D., a clinical associate professor and medical director for pediatric heart transplantation, will study how the different immunosuppressant drugs that must be taken by transplant recipients affect the heart muscle. Through this study, the team hopes to determine if one
drug is better at preventing damage to the transplant graft, one of most common reason for a
graft loss or need for a new transplant.
” Circulating Unconventional T Cells in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients: From Pathogenesis to Biomarker: at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver – Led by Stephanie Nakano, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics, Jordan Abbott, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics and Laurent Gapin, Ph.D., a professor of immunology and microbiology, this team will study how much medication is optimal for the best outcomes in children who undergo heart transplants. It is unclear exactly how much medication is needed and the exact amount can vary from person to person. . Their goal is to learn more about these immune cells and use them as a sensor to adjust the amount of medication each child needs. This may improve the lives of children with heart transplants by protecting the transplanted heart with fewer medication side effects.
For more information on our research grants go to: https://enduringhearts.org/our-work/#research
