LIVINGkidney digital tool recognized in national HHS competition focused on reducing barriers for living kidney donors and transplant patients
Regenstrief Institute has been named a winner of the 2026 KidneyX EMPOWER: Living Link Prize Challenge for LIVINGkidney, a digital tool designed to provide structured guidance and AI-powered knowledge assistance for people navigating living kidney donation.
The Regenstrief team will receive $375,000 to advance LIVINGkidney, which includes a standalone mobile app and website designed to help address friction points in the living kidney donation process.
The KidneyX EMPOWER: Living Link Prize Challenge is a $4 million national competition from the Kidney Innovation Accelerator, a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN). Regenstrief was one of nine winning teams selected from 87 submissions nationwide.
Nearly 100,000 Americans are currently waiting for a kidney transplant, according to HHS, and more than a dozen people die each day while waiting for a kidney. Although living kidney donation can provide a life-saving treatment option for people with kidney failure, financial, logistical, educational and social barriers can make the donation process difficult to navigate.
LIVINGkidney aims to help address those challenges by providing structured guidance and AI knowledge assistance through a digital platform.
The project is led by Regenstrief Institute President and CEO Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH, and Kelsey Drewry, PhD, as principal investigators.
The EMPOWER challenge sought practical innovations that could improve public awareness and mentorship, donor interventions, donor readiness and eligibility, donor-centered outcomes and donation center practices. Winning approaches span digital technology, telehealth, navigation, mentorship and new models for donor evaluation and care.
Regenstrief representatives include Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH; Kelsey Drewry, PhD; Mengyu Di; and Adam Wilk, PhD, will attend the KidneyX EMPOWER Winners Showcase in Washington, D.C., on September 10, 2026. The Regenstrief team will present LIVINGkidney alongside the other winning solutions.
The event will be held in conjunction with the ONC Kidney Data Discovery Workshop, bringing together leaders working to advance kidney data standards, interoperability and innovation.
The KidneyX EMPOWER competition is designed to accelerate solutions that support living kidney donors before, during and after donation while expanding opportunities for patients to receive life-saving transplants.
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