Durand Lab
Principal Investigator: Christine Marie Durand
Institution: Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)
Primary Subfield: Immunology
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Due to epidemics of opioid overdose and hepatitis C virus (HCV), the availability of kidneys from HCV-viremic (HCV+) donors is increasing. There are limited numbers of HCV+ transplant candidates, and as a result 500- 1000 HCV+ donor kidneys are discarded each year. A new practice of HCV+ donor to HCV-naïve recipient (HCV D+/R-) kidney transplantation (KT) with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) has had early success. However, there remains equipoise about whether to give DAAs as prophylaxis or as treatment post-transplant (“transmit- and-treat”). With transmit-and-treat, HCV is cured with 8-12 weeks of DAAs, but complications such as fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis, rejection, CMV, and BK virus are reported. Prophylaxis seems to prevent these complications but data is limited. A direct comparison of prophylaxis and transmit-and-treat has not been done. Determining the best strategy would allow for expansion of HCV D+/R- KT and minimize clinical complications. We propose PREVENT HCV, a multicenter randomized controlled trial comparing DAA prophylaxis with transmit-and-treat in HCV D+/R- KT. We will perform 120 HCV D+/R- KTs over 2 years at 6 transplant centers. Aim 1 will compare the s…
Active NIH Awards
- 5U01AI157931-05: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Prophylaxis with Direct-acting Antivirals for Kidney Transplantation from Hepatitis C virus-infected donor to Uninfected Recipients (PREVENT-HCV) (2026)
- 5U01AI138897-07: Expanding HOPE Liver Transplantation: Understanding Opportunistic Infection and Cancer Risk (2026)
- 5U01AI177211-04: Kidney Transplantation from Donors with HIV: Impact on Rejection and Long-term Outcomes (2026)
- 5U01AI177211-03: Kidney Transplantation from Donors with HIV: Impact on Rejection and Long-term Outcomes (2025)
- 2U01AI138897-06A1: Expanding HOPE Liver Transplantation: Understanding Opportunistic Infection and Cancer Risk (2025)
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