Press Release: July 24, 2026
Landmark Supercooled Kidney Transplant Study Showcases ATP-Bio Innovation in Organ Preservation
MINNEAPOLIS, MN: A groundbreaking advance in organ preservation is bringing researchers closer to a future where donor organs can be stored longer, transported farther, and made available to more patients. In a landmark study presented at the American Transplant Congress featured by MIT Technology Review, researchers successfully transplanted supercooled kidneys into pigs, demonstrating that organs preserved at subzero temperatures for multiple days without freezing can recover function after transplantation.
The achievement is the result of years of collaborative research across multiple institutions and industry partners, led by scientists including Dr. Matthew Powell-Palm, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University and an investigator with the NSF Engineering Research Center for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio). This multidisciplinary effort brought together expertise from researchers including Prof. Elaheh Rahbar, Prof. Kenneth Hoyt, and Prof. Jonathan Bova at Texas A&M University; Dr. Timothy Pruett at the University of Minnesota; Dr. Joshua Weiner at Columbia University; Dr. Gerald Brandacher and Prof. Byoung Chol Oh at Johns Hopkins University; and Dr. Heiko Yang at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Dr. Powell-Palm’s research focuses on developing advanced preservation technologies that protect organs from damage during storage. His work on supercooling and other novel preservation approaches has helped establish the scientific foundation for extending the amount of time organs remain viable outside the body—one of the most significant challenges in transplantation today.
The breakthrough reflects ATP-Bio’s collaborative, interdisciplinary mission to develop next-generation technologies for preserving and transporting living biological systems. By integrating expertise across engineering, biology, medicine, and materials science, ATP-Bio researchers are advancing biopreservation solutions that could transform transplantation and bring the vision of long-term organ banking closer to reality.
Read the full MIT Technology Review article: Supercooled kidneys have been transplanted into pigs in a “landmark achievement”.
*This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EEC 1941543.*
Media Contact: Elica Gardner
ATP-Bio Communications Manager
atp-bio-aa@umn.edu
