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To find living donors for kidney transplants, a pilot program turns to social networks

Earlier this year, a pilot began at three Pennsylvania hospitals to pair patients with volunteer `angel advocates`, backed by the Gift of Life Donor Program with a grant over $100,000.
The pilot responds to scarce living donations and patients' limited networks, as some 90,000 people wait for kidneys while about 6,400 living kidney donations were transplanted last year.
Early local results show matches at Temple and UPMC‑Harrisburg, with two of five Temple patients finding donors and one UPMC‑Harrisburg patient undergoing transplant.
Seeking a blueprint, organizers will study and publish trial results, with Richard Hasz Jr. calling the method new and Becca Brown saying it could `snowball`.
A North Carolina pilot matched all three patients, pointing to replicability, while living-donor kidneys last longer and thousands die each year waiting, highlighting potential life-saving impact.

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