LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The OneLegacy Foundation announced today the awarding of five grants totaling more than $600,000 to support scientific research and community organizations focused on organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation.
The largest grant, in the amount of $300,000, was awarded to Sanjeev Kumar, M.D., at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to support his research project aimed at assessing the role SOX9 protein plays in improving the rate of repair of deceased donor kidneys that have been affected by acute kidney injury. It is hoped that his work will reduce discards and increase the use of donated kidneys to help save and improve the lives of kidney transplant recipients. Currently there are more than 93,000 people on the kidney transplant waiting list; and the wait for a deceased donor could be five years, and in some states it is closer to 10.
A $150,000 sustainability grant was awarded to Ava’s Heart Foundation, which provides critically needed assistance to transplant patients and their families who might not otherwise be able to receive a transplant and to those whose loved ones have given the gift of life and need follow-up assistance. Integral to its mission is raising awareness and educating the public as to the challenges families face, both pre- and post-transplant, and to promote organ donation. This marks the fourth consecutive year that the OneLegacy Foundation has supported the work of Ava’s Heart.
As part of its 2019 granting program, the OneLegacy Foundation has increased its support to the Diamond Level of the Donate Life Transplant Games of America, to be held in 2020 in New Jersey. The $100,000 grant from the OneLegacy Foundation will assist with the production of the games, which is attended by recipients and donor families from across the country. At last year’s games OneLegacy set a mark recognized by the Guinness World Records for bringing together the most transplant recipients ever gathered in one location; demonstrating the dramatic impact of donation and transplantation in communities across the nation.
Grants in the amounts of $36,000 and $22,000 were also awarded to the Comfort Zone Camp and Strengthline, respectively. Comfort Zone Camp provides grief counseling and support to children who have lost a parent in the Southern California and New York areas. Many of these are children of organ donors, and the grant from the OneLegacy Foundation will help ensure that the services provided by Comfort Zone are available for all children suffering such a loss. Strengthline is a social media messaging program that produces social media video posts designed to increase organ donation and registration. The grant made by the OneLegacy Foundation will allow for a continuation of last year’s very successful donor registration promotion videos to be produced and shared.
“Donation is a precious gift, and the grants awarded by the OneLegacy Foundation acknowledge and thank those people and organizations who are working to share the power of donation with others,” said OneLegacy Foundation CEO Tom Mone. “While much progress has been made in raising awareness and in the number of people who register to be donors, there are still far too many people who suffer or die unnecessarily because there are simply not enough organ, eye and tissue donors to match the need. Through our grants and our partners, we are making an impact that can be seen in our six straight years of increasing donation in Southern California and in the continued increase in the success rates of organ, cornea and tissue transplants.”
Funded by the nonprofit OneLegacy—the nation’s largest organ, eye and tissue recovery organization—the OneLegacy Foundation was formed in 2011 to help educate and inspire people to take action in support of living and deceased donation. The foundation is the lead sponsor of the annual Donate Life Rose Parade float every Jan. 1 in Pasadena as well as the annual Donate Life Run/Walk, which this year attracted more than 12,000 participants in support of the power and impact of donation.
The OneLegacy Foundation’s grants and gifts committee supports the advancement of human organ and tissue donation and transplantation through education and scientific research to improve outcomes for donors, their families and recipients. It also passionately supports community engagement programs that help educate and inspire people to take action in support of organ and tissue donation. Grant requests are reviewed on a quarterly basis. To find out more about the grant process or the work of the foundation, go to onelegacyfoundation.org.
