Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment Commons^™

Immunologic Risk Prediction Model For Kidney Graft Function, Christina Diane Bishop

Doctoral Dissertations

Clinicians lack appropriate non-invasive methods to be able to predict, diagnose, and reduce the risk of rejection in the years following kidney transplantation. Protocol biopsies and monitoring of serum creatinine levels are the most common methods of monitoring graft function after transplant; however, they have several negative aspects. Use of traditional factors regarding donors and recipients such as Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) DNA typing, pre-transplant anti-HLA antibody levels, and basic demographics (age, ethnicity/race, gender), has proved inadequate for post-transplant graft monitoring past the first few years. We propose that by utilizing immunologic factors available to clinicians across the United States, …