Grants for Lung and Heart Transplant Research Co-funded by the ISHLT and ISHLT Foundation

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Published 23 January 2026
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The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) announced over $257,000 USD in funding for research designed to improve care for patients with advanced heart and lung disease. These funds were provided by the ISHLT Foundation.

ISHLT Cardiogenic Shock Research Grant, supported by Johnson & Johnson MedTech | Heart Recovery
Benjamin Steinhorn Headshot
Awarded to: Benjamin Steinhorn, MD, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital | Boston, MA USA
Research Title: Tissue Perfusion Pressure-guided Management of Temporary Mechanical Circulatory Support in Cardiogenic Shock

Dr. Steinhorn’s study aims to determine the effectiveness of tissue perfusion pressure measurement for patient care. With the funding, supported by Johnson & Johnson MedTech | Heart Recovery, Dr. Steinhorn’s team will study patient data to answer fundamental questions regarding unique patterns of how shock develops and best practices for pump adjustments and removal.

ISHLT Acellular Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion (EVLP) Research Grant, supported by Lung Bioengineering 
Laurens Ceulemans Headshot
Awarded to: Laurens Ceulemans, MD, PhD
KU Leuven | Leuven, Belguim
Research Title: CRISTAL - CRISPR-mediaTed Genome Lung Editing via Rat Ex-vivo Lung Perfusion to Improve Lung Transplant Outcome

Dr. Ceulemans’ study examines CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing, a molecular "scissor" that precisely targets and disrupts specific genes. With the funding, supported by Lung Bioengineering, Dr. Ceulemans’ team will study how this method aims to reduce ischemia-reperfusion injury by silencing harmful genes.

ISHLT Molecular Biomarker Study Using Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Analysis in Lung Transplantation Grant, supported by CareDx 
Kunal Patel headshot
Awarded to: Kunal Patel, MD, PhD
Duke University | Durham, NC USA
Research Title: Proteomic Guided Predictive Modeling as a Tool for Donor Lung Assessment

With the funding supported by CareDx, Dr. Patel’s study aims to create a predictive tool that can assist transplant centers in identifying donor lungs that might disproportionately over- or under-perform, and help turn the "art" of extended criteria donor selection into a more exact science. 

 

Image Coming SoonAwarded to: Glen Westall, FRACP, PhD
Alfred Health | Melbourne, VIC Australia 
Research Title: An Artificial Intelligence Foundation Model for Predicting Health Outcomes in Lung Transplant Recipients

Lung transplants can save lives, but patients can develop CLAD post-transplant leading to a poor prognosis. With funding supported by CareDx, Dr. Westall’s team is working to develop an AI that can identify early signs of disease and predict the development of CLAD before it occurs, allowing doctors to intervene earlier with existing therapies, and manage immunosuppressive treatments more effectively.