Known as the Adult to Adult Living Donor Liver Transplant Cohort Study, the seven-year project will investigate the experience of patients eligible for living-donor liver transplants, concentrating on aspects that affect outcomes of recipients and donors.
"The main goal is to save lives on the recipient side and to do no harm on the donor side," said Roshan Shrestha, professor of medicine at the School of Medicine and principal investigator of the UNC study site.
NIH designated UNC as one of 10 medical centers in the nation to participate in the study.
"We feel fortunate to be selected," Shrestha said. "It's a great opportunity to answer questions about living-donor transplants in this country."
NIH looked at UNC's expertise, environment and credibility of program and personnel when it was selected as a participating site, Shrestha said.
"UNC was selected purely on merit," he said. "We are the front line in the study of living-donor liver transplants and have been involved since the earliest stages of this procedure."
Because of the shortage of donor livers for cadaveric transplants, many patients with liver disease have died while awaiting a donor.
Living-donor liver transplant, widely accepted for children in need of liver transplantation, has been used as an alternative for adults. But because it requires a larger portion of the liver, it is a more challenging procedure with potentially greater risks.
In January, Michael Hurewitz of Schuylerville, N.Y., died three days after a procedure in which he donated part of his liver to his brother, who had liver disease.
