Scholars@Duke
Matthew Jay Ellis

Matthew Jay Ellis

Professor of Medicine
Medicine, Nephrology
matthew.ellis@duke.edu
Duke Box 3512, Durham, NC 27710
Hanes House 332, 30 Trent Drive, Durham, NC 27710

Selected Publications

System Interventions to Achieve Early and Equitable Kidney Transplants (STEPS): Protocol for STEPS, a randomized comparative effectiveness clinical trial.

Journal Article Contemp Clin Trials · April 6, 2025 The System Interventions to Achieve Early and Equitable Kidney Transplants Study (STEPS) is an ongoing pragmatic clinical trial investigating the effectiveness of an equitable and patient-centered approach to kidney care on equitable access to early kidney ... Full text Link to item Cite

Reducing Disparities in Access to Kidney Transplantation Regional Study: A Randomized Trial in the Southeastern United States.

Journal Article Clin J Am Soc Nephrol · December 13, 2024 KEY POINTS: Declines in referral mirror national trends; however, declines were less for some groups receiving the intervention, warranting long-term follow-up. The findings provide important context for future modification and scale-up of multilevel, mult ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association of Age and Gender With Concerns About Live Donor Kidney Transplantation Among Black Individuals.

Conference Transplant Proc · December 2023 Black individuals are less likely to receive live donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) compared to others. This may be partly related to their concerns about LDKT, which can vary based on age and gender. We conducted a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Real-world Experiences in the Transplantation of Hepatitis C-NAAT-positive Organs.

Journal Article Transplant Direct · November 2023 BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT)-positive donors have increased the organ pool. Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have led to high rates of treatment success and sustained virologic response (SVR) in recipients with ... Full text Link to item Cite

MyKidneyCoach, Patient Activation, and Clinical Outcomes in Diverse Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Randomized Control Pilot Trial.

Journal Article Transplant Direct · April 2023 UNLABELLED: Kidney transplant (KT) recipients who are not actively engaged in their care and lack self-management skills have poor transplant outcomes, which are disproportionately observed among Black KT recipients. This pilot study aimed to determine whe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Referral and Evaluation for Kidney Transplantation Following Implementation of the 2014 National Kidney Allocation System.

Journal Article Am J Kidney Dis · December 2022 RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: The national kidney allocation system (KAS) implemented in December 2014 in the United States redefined the start of waiting time from the time of waitlisting to the time of kidney failure. Waitlisting has declined post-KAS, but it i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Community Engagement to Improve Equity in Kidney Transplantation from the Ground Up: the Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition.

Journal Article Curr Transplant Rep · December 2021 PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to describe the Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition's mission, vision, goals, and Early Transplant Access registry as an example of a community/academic collaboration dedicated to improving access to tr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Deep learning segmentation of glomeruli on kidney donor frozen sections.

Journal Article J Med Imaging (Bellingham) · November 2021 Purpose: Recent advances in computational image analysis offer the opportunity to develop automatic quantification of histologic parameters as aid tools for practicing pathologists. We aim to develop deep learning (DL) models to quantify nonsclerotic and s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Transplant social worker and donor financial assistance to increase living donor kidney transplants among African Americans: The TALKS Study, a randomized comparative effectiveness trial.

Journal Article Am J Transplant · June 2021 Lack of donors hinders living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) for African Americans. We studied the effectiveness of a transplant social worker intervention (TALK SWI) alone or paired with living donor financial assistance to activate African Americans ... Full text Link to item Cite

Dialysis Facility Profit Status and Early Steps in Kidney Transplantation in the Southeastern United States.

Journal Article Clin J Am Soc Nephrol · June 2021 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Dialysis facilities in the United States play a key role in access to kidney transplantation. Previous studies reported that patients treated at for-profit facilities are less likely to be waitlisted and receive a transplant, but ... Full text Link to item Cite

Definition and Analysis of Textbook Outcome: A Novel Quality Measure in Kidney Transplantation.

Journal Article World J Surg · May 2021 BACKGROUND: "Textbook outcome" (TO) is a novel composite quality measure that encompasses multiple postoperative endpoints, representing the ideal "textbook" hospitalization for complex surgical procedures. We defined TO for kidney transplantation using a ... Full text Link to item Cite

African Americans' discussions about living-donor kidney transplants with family or friends: Who, what, and why not?

Journal Article Clin Transplant · April 2021 BACKGROUND: Although discussions with family or friends can improve access to living-donor kidney transplantation (LDKT), they remain an understudied step in the LDKT process. METHODS: Among 300 African American transplant candidates, we examined how socio ... Full text Link to item Cite

Global kidney exchange should expand wisely.

Journal Article Transpl Int · September 2020 Full text Link to item Cite

Dialysis facility referral and start of evaluation for kidney transplantation among patients treated with dialysis in the Southeastern United States.

Journal Article Am J Transplant · August 2020 Variability in transplant access exists, but barriers to referral and evaluation are underexplored due to lack of national surveillance data. We examined referral for kidney transplantation evaluation and start of the evaluation among 34 857 incident, adul ... Full text Link to item Cite

Delayed vs initial cytomegalovirus prophylaxis after kidney transplantation.

Journal Article Clin Transplant · June 2020 It is recommended to start cytomegalovirus (CMV) prophylaxis within 10 days of solid organ transplant, if indicated. Our center underwent a cost-savings initiative to delay CMV prophylaxis initiation from postoperative day zero to postoperative day 7 or up ... Full text Link to item Cite

Associations of perceived information adequacy and knowledge with pursuit of live donor kidney transplants and living donor inquiries among African American transplant candidates.

Journal Article Clin Transplant · March 2020 We studied associations between perceived adequacy of live donor kidney transplant (LDKT) information or knowledge with pursuit of LDKT or receipt of live donor inquiries among 300 African American kidney transplant candidates. Participants reported via qu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma from Transplanted Kidney with Complete Response to an Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor.

Journal Article Case Rep Urol · 2020 BACKGROUND: Donor-derived malignancy is a rare complication in patients who undergo organ transplant. Approaches to treatment have largely been individualized based on clinical circumstances given the lack of evidence-based guidelines, with therapeutic opt ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Development of a Telehealth Intervention to Improve Access to Live Donor Kidney Transplantation.

Journal Article Transplant Proc · April 2019 BACKGROUND: Live donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) is underutilized by patients with end-stage kidney disease due to knowledge, communication, and logistical barriers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Talking About Live Kidney Donation Social Worker Interventio ... Full text Link to item Cite

Medical evaluation of the living donor

Chapter · January 1, 2019 Living donor kidney transplants constitute between 10% and 50% of annual kidney transplant volume worldwide. This chapter presents the history of living donation through the modern-day approach to living donation, with a focus on evolving paradigms of what ... Full text Cite

Human Leukocyte Antigen Sensitization in Solid Organ Transplantation: A Primer on Terminology, Testing, and Clinical Significance for the Apheresis Practitioner.

Journal Article Ther Apher Dial · October 2017 The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system is an important immunologic barrier that must be considered for successful solid organ transplantation. Formation of donor-specific HLA antibodies in solid organ transplantation is an important cause of allograft in ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Application of a Novel CT-Based Iliac Artery Calcification Scoring System for Predicting Renal Transplant Outcomes.

Journal Article AJR Am J Roentgenol · February 2016 OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to assess whether the degree and distribution of iliac artery calcifications as determined by a CT-based calcium scoring system correlates with outcomes after renal transplant. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospectiv ... Full text Link to item Cite

The TALKS study to improve communication, logistical, and financial barriers to live donor kidney transplantation in African Americans: protocol of a randomized clinical trial.

Journal Article BMC Nephrol · October 9, 2015 BACKGROUND: Live donor kidney transplantation (LDKT), an optimal therapy for many patients with end-stage kidney disease, is underutilized, particularly by African Americans. Potential recipient difficulties initiating and sustaining conversations about LD ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Outcomes in kidney transplant recipients from older living donors.

Journal Article Transplantation · February 2015 BACKGROUND: Previous studies demonstrate that graft survival from older living kidney donors (LD; age>60 years) is worse than younger LD but similar to deceased standard criteria donors (SCD). Limited sample size has precluded more detailed analyses of tra ... Full text Link to item Cite

Tacrolimus dose requirements in African-American and Caucasian kidney transplant recipients on mycophenolate and prednisone.

Journal Article Clin Transplant · July 2014 Racial differences among kidney transplant recipients may impact the total daily tacrolimus dose required to achieve therapeutic tacrolimus concentrations. Previous studies suggest that African Americans require higher doses to achieve similar therapeutic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Renal transplant imaging using magnetic resonance angiography with a nonnephrotoxic contrast agent.

Journal Article Transplantation · July 15, 2013 BACKGROUND: In renal allograft recipients presenting with graft dysfunction, it is critical to determine the patency of the transplant vasculature to guide clinical management. Conventional modalities such as Doppler ultrasound, contrast-enhanced computed ... Full text Link to item Cite

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome independently associated with tacrolimus and sirolimus after multivisceral transplantation.

Journal Article Am J Transplant · March 2013 Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a small vessel microangiopathy of the cerebral vasculature that occurs in 0.5-5% of solid organ transplant recipients, most commonly associated with tacrolimus (Tac). Clinical manifestations include hy ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mechanisms of the proteinuria induced by Rho GTPases.

Journal Article Kidney Int · June 2012 Podocytes are highly differentiated cells that play an important role in maintaining glomerular filtration barrier integrity; a function regulated by small GTPase proteins of the Rho family. To investigate the role of Rho A in podocyte biology, we created ... Full text Link to item Cite

Chronic kidney disease after hematopoietic cell transplantation: a systematic review.

Journal Article Am J Transplant · November 2008 Advances in hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) have broadened its indications for use and resulted in more long-term HCT survivors. Some survivors develop chronic kidney disease (CKD); however, the incidence and risk factors are unclear. We performed ... Full text Link to item Cite

Beneficial effects of the Rho kinase inhibitor Y27632 in murine puromycin aminonucleoside nephrosis.

Journal Article Kidney Blood Press Res · 2008 BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Rho kinase (ROCK) inhibition reduces systemic blood pressure (BP) and decreases renal damage in animal models of kidney disease. The aim of this study was to determine if ROCK inhibition might have beneficial effects in glomerular dise ... Full text Link to item Cite

The uncertain significance of anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody among HIV-infected persons with kidney disease.

Journal Article Am J Kidney Dis · October 2006 Glomerular lesions that complicate patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection include HIV-associated nephropathy, membranous glomerulopathy, and immune-complex glomerulonephritides. This case series presents 3 patients with clinically signi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.

Journal Article N Engl J Med · September 7, 2006 Full text Link to item Cite

Systolic contraction within aneurysmal rabbit myocardium following transplantation of autologous skeletal myoblasts.

Journal Article J Surg Res · September 2006 OBJECTIVE: Transplantation of autologous skeletal myoblasts (SKMB) into infarcted heart (or cellular cardiomyoplasty, CCM) augments myocardial performance in animal models of myocardial infarction. However, the effect of CCM in the setting of ventricular a ... Full text Link to item Cite