Timucin Taner, M.D., Ph.D.

The overall goal of this study is to determine the safety and feasibility of infusing adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells directly into the artery of renal allografts with biopsy-proven rejection in order to reduce inflammation detected in the graft.   We contend that future studies will show that administering immunomodulatory cells directly into the allograft will be more effective and safer than the current approaches of delivering massive doses of systemic immunosuppression.

Study participation involves receiving mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), created from the adipose tissue (body fat) of a donor, and infused into the main artery of a transplanted kidney to find out if it can help reduce the inflammation in the kidney that is caused by the rejection process.

This study is a prospective Phase IV study to determine if the use of Everolimus results in lower liver tumor recurrence and improved patient and graft survival after liver transplant for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The immunosuppressive comparators will be Everolimus and Tacrolimus therapy compared to Tacrolimus and Mycophenolic acid/Mycophenolate Mofetil. Primary outcomes data is disease free survival (the time from randomization to HCC recurrence or death). Secondary outcomes are rate of recurrence of Hepatitis C, problems related to wound healing, hernia repair within the first 12 months, hepatic arterial thrombosis, renal function, acute cellular rejection, post-transplant diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia.

The purpose of this study is to assess the safety, tolerability, and dose limiting toxicities of taking a specific combination of immunosuppressant drugs on infused donor-alloantigen-reactive regulatory T cells after liver transplantation, to improve immune function without liver rejection.

This research study is for liver transplant recipients and their respective living donors. The purpose of this study is to see if it is safe for liver recipients to receive one dose of donor reactive T regulatory cells (Tregs), and if the Tregs allows a liver recipient to take less, or completely stop medications normally taken after receiving an organ transplant.