Why Become a Kidney for Life Participating Center?
- Better Outcomes: Participating centers will be able to improve donor-recipient matching using automated eplet mismatch analysis (EMA). Research suggests patients with low EMA risk will develop fewer de novo DSAs, experience fewer rejections and have a lower incidence of graft failure.
- Lower Immunosuppression: Participating centers will be able to improve donor-recipient matching using the EMA. Research suggests patients with low EMA risk can safely reduce immunosuppression.
- Increased Transplant Volume: To the extent patients want to get a better match to lower their risk of graft failure and have the option to safely lower their immunosuppression, centers participating in the KFL initiative will increase their living donor transplant volumes. Patient referrals will be sent from the NKR and KFL websites to participating KFL centers via an automated process.
- Improved Transplant Follow-up Data: By creating a national platform for following patients post-transplant, standardized multi-center follow-up data can be collected and used to measure the results of the KFL initiative. All centers will have access to this follow-up data. This multi-center follow-up data will be used to further develop our knowledge of what constitutes the best donor-recipient match.
- Authorship: The lead physicians at each participating KFL center will be invited to be lead authors and co-authors of papers that are expected to be generated from the KFL initiative.