# Impact of donor bacterial infections on solid organ transplant recipient outcomes

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $133,677

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 The principal treatment for end-stage organ failure is solid organ transplantation (SOT). One of the most
significant challenges facing organ transplantation is the limited supply of donor organs. As a result, there is
substantial clinical and public health interest in expanding the donor pool to include those organs that have
historically been discarded. Specifically, donors with positive bacterial cultures have been inconsistently
utilized, because there have been several reports of donors transmitting bacteria to their organ recipients via
the allograft, causing donor-derived bacterial infections (DDBIs). DDBIs have been linked in limited data to
poor outcomes including vascular anastomosis dehiscence, overwhelming infection, and death. In some cases,
the poor outcomes were attributed to the fact that the positive donor culture was not identified before transplant
and there was a delay in recipient diagnosis and treatment. Conversely, there have also been case series
describing safe transplantation of organs from donors with positive bacterial cultures. Thus, the true impact of
donor bacterial infection or colonization on SOT recipients remains unclear.
 In this study, we plan to address this knowledge gap by studying a large, multicenter cohort of SOT
recipients and their donors. This cohort will be built upon an existing multicenter research infrastructure of
transplant centers, as well as our unique research collaboration with the local organ procurement organization,
which coordinates transplantations in our region. In addition, we will be able to collect bacterial isolates from
donors and recipients at our large transplant center in order to perform molecular testing. Specifically, we plan
to: (AIM 1) Determine the risk factors associated with acquiring a DDBI in SOT recipients; (Secondary AIM 1)
Compare whole genome sequencing (WGS) versus phenotypic characterization to define DDBI in a
subpopulation of SOT recipients; (AIM 2) Determine the association between positive donor bacterial cultures
and time to (a) first bacterial infection and (b) graft failure or death; (AIM 3) Determine the predictors of positive
donor cultures identified after organ transplantation.
 The results of this study will be important for the field of transplantation as it wrestles with how to safely
expand the donor pool. The aims are combined with a robust training plan that includes formal education in
biostatistics and epidemiology, the development of advanced analytic skills for clinical and genome data,
formal benchmarks for progress including presentation at seminars and international conferences, and
extensive research experience under the guidance of an expert mentoring and advisory team. This proposal
will form a strong foundation for my continued development toward a career as an independent investigator
with a program of research focused on improving outcomes among SOT recipients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9838722
- **Project number:** 5K01AI137317-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Judith Anesi
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $133,677
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-12-17 → 2023-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9838722

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9838722, Impact of donor bacterial infections on solid organ transplant recipient outcomes (5K01AI137317-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9838722. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*