Interview with Sophie Brouard, research director at the University Hospital of Nantes and co-coordinator of KTD-innov

Dr Sophie Brouard, research director in Nantes and co-coordinator of the project KTD-innov - ©studioah

What if it were possible to better understand the immunological mechanisms around the renal transplant and improve the diagnosis of transplant rejection? This is the starting point of the KTD-innov project, on which research teams, clinical centres and industrial partners collaborate.

Among the project partners is the team from the University Hospital Centre (CHU) in Nantes. Interview with Dr Sophie Brouard, research director in Nantes and co-coordinator of the project.

A strong mobilization of the research teams of the University Hospital of Nantes

The success of the KTD-innov study is based on the prospective collection of data from kidney transplant patients. In this context, the University Hospital of Nantes has provided its expertise in the analysis of patient samples and the identification of non-invasive biomarkers in order to improve the diagnosis of rejection.

Thanks to these analyses, our specialists will be able to develop precision and more personalized medicine.

These data are combined with clinical, biological and immunological parameters and then analysed by different statistical methods to define immunologically stable patients or patients who will present a rejection of the transplanted organ. "Thanks to these analyses, our specialists will be able to develop precision and more personalized medicine," explains Dr. Brouard.

​When the first part of the project is completed, Nantes University Hospital will conduct a clinical validation study. "The idea is to retrieve new clinical data from 300 patients in the KTD consortium," explains the research director. "In this way, we can help clinicians in their diagnosis of rejection prediction and treatment response. »

A scientific innovation with major social implications

"Before KTD-innov, there was no validation of biomarkers, only hypotheses in the literature," says Dr. Brouard. "Now, we are able to identify these biomarkers through the analysis of clinical-biological and scientific data by patient."

In the long term, these diagnostic tools would reduce hospitalization times, optimize treatment costs, prolong graft survival and delay transplantation. "KTD-innov could impact the entire medical-economic ecosystem around kidney transplantation," adds Sophie Brouard. With the KTD-innov project, the patient is put at the heart of medical concerns.

In addition, the data processing could eventually be applied to other areas. "The objective is that all this demonstration in kidney transplantation can be transposed to other transplants, such as lung or heart transplants," says Sophie Brouard.

Transversal and multi-skilled collaboration

KTD-innov is a transversal, multidisciplinary and multi-skilled project. Indeed, doctors, researchers, bioinformaticians, data specialists, clinical centres and industrial partners involved in the project have all made their expertise, tools and knowledge available.

Through this strong collaboration, we have succeeded in uniting teams that work together for the patient. We gain a lot from being enriched by the different disciplines. ​

"I am happy and proud to be in this project, which would not have been possible without all the partners involved," concludes Sophie Brouard. "Through this strong collaboration, we have succeeded in uniting teams that work together for the patient. We gain a lot from being enriched by the different disciplines. "

Thanks to the pooling of expertise, the work of researchers, nephrologists, statisticians, public health specialists and industrialists will make it possible to refine the diagnosis of transplant rejections, for a more effective follow-up and immune diagnosis of patients.

In this way, KTD-innov puts the patient at the heart of the dialogue by allowing treatment adapted to each case, and paves the way for a more personalized follow-up of organ transplants.