The next stage of the THINKER project — THINKER-NEXT — is aiming to settle any lingering concerns that patients and centers might have about using kidneys from hepatitis C (HCV)-infected donors and transplanting them into HCV-negative recipients in need of a kidney transplant.
Armed with an $8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia will evaluate the long-term risks and benefits of transplanting kidneys from HCV-positive donors into HCV-negative recipients and compare outcomes with those attained following transplantation of HCV-negative kidneys into HCV-negative recipients. Read more.