USTransplant.org: About Us

Arbor Research Collaborative for Health (Arbor Research) is committed to improving patient lives through research in end-stage organ failure and organ transplantation. Large-scale prospective studies, original data collection, and analysis of existing databases are among the approaches we employ. Our scientists form collaborations with top-rated biostatisticians, epidemiologists, and clinicians at academic institutions around the globe, performing rigorous research with major impact for patients.

The transplant research group at Arbor Research served as the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) from October 2000 through December 2010. With a nationally eminent group of collaborators, we made the SRTR what it is today: one of the most highly respected and referenced registries in any field of medicine. Our commitment to transplant research and the transplant community remains strong, as we pursue a variety of new research endeavors that build on our scientific foundation in the field. We continue to provide key programming and analytical resources for the data coordinating centers for the A2ALL and RELIVE studies, two NIH-funded multicenter observational studies in organ transplantation.

We continue research on our Kidney Waiting List Calculator, where patients can find typical waiting times for deceased donor kidney transplants by hospital, and compare these to the national average for similar blood types and donor characteristics. Arbor Research is seeking user and patient feedback on this prototype; your feedback guides our development of this and other tools for transplant patients, transplant programs, and organ procurement organizations.

As leaders in the exploration of issues related to the balance between transplant equity and utility, we have recently published work describing:

Please see the Publications tab for an up-to-date list of our transplant-related papers, along with their associated public use slides.

Other Research at Arbor

Arbor’s research initiatives outside of the transplant group focus on dialysis and other public health and chronic disease issues. For more information about these, visit the Arbor Research Website.

Ten Years of SRTR

Arbor Research had the privilege of serving the transplant community as the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) from October 2000 through December 2010. During this time, we:

Established the SRTR as one of the most highly respected and referenced registries in any field of medicine.
Published yearly, peer-reviewed editions of the SRTR Report on the State of Transplantation, uniting some of the nation's best transplant researchers to produce 76 articles on transplant trends, including 23 special focus and methodology articles.
Provided statistical evidence and policy development for over 30 policy making committees, for such challenging topics as new deceased donor lung and kidney allocation systems, transplant survival benefit calculations for liver candidates, and donor risk indexes for kidney and pancreas candidates.
Furthered the body of knowledge on transplantation with over 130 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Produced 20 rounds of free, publicly available web-based reports that allow users to compare statistics on organ donation, waiting list activities, and post-transplant outcomes for transplant centers and organ procurement organizations nationwide.