Two Temple researchers are part of a White House effort to establish a national clearinghouse of educational resources about kidney transplant and living donation.
Heather Traino, associate professor in the College of Public Health, and Avrum Gillespie, assistant professor in the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, are part of the initiative which will allow patients, living donors, and the interested public to access information that was previously privately-held, and which will help them make informed decisions about kidney transplants and donation.
In an announcement made this week, the Obama Administration unveiled a new set of actions in partnership with dozens of companies, foundations, universities, hospitals, and patient advocacy organizations. These actions build on the Administration’s efforts to improve outcomes for individuals waiting for organ transplants and support for living donors.
The White House initiative aims to increase the number of people who register to become organ donors, increase the number of transplants performed, improve outcomes for transplant recipients, and change what might be possible for future patients by facilitating breakthrough research and development.
Traino said that better resources and information are critical to ensuring access to life-saving transplantation opportunities. Speaking about the national clearinghouse Traino commented that “gaps in the quality of educational materials made available at dialysis centers is well-documented. There is considerable variation in the quality and content of transplant education that patients and donors receive with ethnic/racial minorities, potential living donors, and patients with moderate to severe kidney disease often receiving inadequate information.”
Resources will be made publicly available by the end of the summer of 2017. Other organizations that are part of the effort are Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Emory University, Mount Sinai Hospital, Northwestern University and the University of California Los Angeles