The IMPACT program aims to advance machine perfusion technologies for organ preservation, assessment, and repair. By collaborating with top institutions and private partners, it drives innovative solutions to improve organ viability, enhance regeneration, and reduce immunogenicity, strengthening the Netherlands' position as a global leader in transplantation.
Innovative Machine Perfusion for Advancing Clinical Transplantation (IMPACT)
The IMPACT program supports the development innovative machine perfusion technologies to better preserve, assess, and restore donor organs, potentially leading to more successful transplants. With the UMCG Transplantation Center and the Erasmus MC Transplantation Institute as primary program partners, the respective experts join forces to create solutions for various organs. This program aims to reduce waiting times, improve patient outcomes, and position the Netherlands as a global leader in transplantation innovation. As a result, more lives are saved, and the logistics of organ transplantation are optimised.
At the end of 2023, 1,464 patients in the Netherlands were on the transplant waiting list, however, only 884 of them were able to receive a life-saving donor organ. This highlights that every year, patients on the waiting list pass away because a suitable donor organ is not available in time. Machine perfusion technology, developed within the IMPACT program, has the potential to substantially improve these outcomes and increase the number of successful transplants.
The IMPACT program has identified four main themes under which projects can be submitted: (1) Cardiothoracic (heart transplantation), (2) Cardiothoracic (lung transplantation), (3) Abdominal (liver transplantation), and (4) Abdominal (kidney transplantation). The program group strategically prioritises applied research, focusing on technologies with practical applications within the industrial research (TRL 5-7).
The IMPACT program will support projects focusing on transplantation, machine perfusion and related technologies. For this purpose, the Program Front Office will announce an Open Call for applications form interested parties. The project consortium must include at least one program partner. After submission, a preliminary eligibility check will be conducted by the Front Office, to ensure alignment with Health Holland regulations. Complete applications will be sent to the Steering Group for a first screening on strategic alignment to the program themes. For the positively assessed applications, the Evaluation Group will select projects most relevant to the program