KEP-SOFT (Software for Transnational Kidney Exchange Programmes) was a 1-year project funded by a COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Innovators Grant, number IG15210.  The project ran from 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022 and followed on from ENCKEP (European Network for Collaboration on Kidney Exchange Programmes). The ENCKEP COST Action ran from 2 September 2016 to 1 March 2021. The main aim of KEP-SOFT was to deliver a software product to be used by National Transplantation Organisations (or NTOs) to run national and transnational kidney exchange programmes (or KEPs). COST also maintain a website for the KEP-SOFT project. ...Know more

Kidney Exchange Programmes (KEPs) greatly enhance living kidney donation by allowing a patient to “swap” their willing but incompatible donor with that of another patient who is in a similar position, so that each patient concerned can receive a compatible kidney. Non-directed (altruistic) donors can also benefit multiple patients by triggering “chains” of transplants. Many European countries operate successful KEPs, and the ENCKEP COST Action has undertaken foundational work in the development of transnational European collaboration on KEPs, which can improve outcomes through countries pooling their resources. However, a software infrastructure that will allow European countries to easily develop and operate new transnational KEPs is lacking. This project will deliver such a software tool, KEP-SOFT, which will be ready to be deployed as part of an actual transnational KEP.

This will be done by building on a prototype software product developed as part of ENCKEP, and by drawing on the existing expertise that has been accumulated within ENCKEP, which includes clinicians, policy makers, optimisation experts, computer scientists, mathematicians and economists. KEP-SOFT will be made freely available as a resource to the European transplantation community, and to National Transplantation Organisations (NTOs) in particular. Importantly, we have direct communication channels to ensure that NTOs can benefit from this work and deploy the software, as many ENCKEP participants are senior clinicians (e.g., nephrologists, kidney surgeons) and/or policy makers (e.g., directors) in NTOs, and this range of expertise is reflected in the composition of the CIG Team.

The project objectives are available.