Browsing by Author "Cohen, David"

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    Cell-Free DNA and Active Rejection in Kidney Allografts
    (American Society of Nephrology, 2017-07) Bloom, Roy D.; Bromberg, Jonathan S.; Poggio, Emilio D.; Bunnapradist, Suphamai; Langone, Anthony J.; Sood, Puneet; Matas, Arthur J.; Mehta, Shikha; Mannon, Roslyn B.; Sharfuddin, Asif; Fischbach, Bernard; Narayanan, Mohanram; Jordan, Stanley C.; Cohen, David; Weir, Matthew R.; Hiller, David; Prasad, Preethi; Woodward, Robert N.; Grskovic, Marica; Sninsky, John J.; Yee, James P.; Brennan, Daniel C.; Circulating Donor-Derived Cell-Free DNA in Blood for Diagnosing Active Rejection in Kidney Transplant Recipients (DART) Study Investigators; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Histologic analysis of the allograft biopsy specimen is the standard method used to differentiate rejection from other injury in kidney transplants. Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) is a noninvasive test of allograft injury that may enable more frequent, quantitative, and safer assessment of allograft rejection and injury status. To investigate this possibility, we prospectively collected blood specimens at scheduled intervals and at the time of clinically indicated biopsies. In 102 kidney recipients, we measured plasma levels of dd-cfDNA and correlated the levels with allograft rejection status ascertained by histology in 107 biopsy specimens. The dd-cfDNA level discriminated between biopsy specimens showing any rejection (T cell-mediated rejection or antibody-mediated rejection [ABMR]) and controls (no rejection histologically), P<0.001 (receiver operating characteristic area under the curve [AUC], 0.74; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.61 to 0.86). Positive and negative predictive values for active rejection at a cutoff of 1.0% dd-cfDNA were 61% and 84%, respectively. The AUC for discriminating ABMR from samples without ABMR was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.97). Positive and negative predictive values for ABMR at a cutoff of 1.0% dd-cfDNA were 44% and 96%, respectively. Median dd-cfDNA was 2.9% (ABMR), 1.2% (T cell-mediated types ≥IB), 0.2% (T cell-mediated type IA), and 0.3% in controls (P=0.05 for T cell-mediated rejection types ≥IB versus controls). Thus, dd-cfDNA may be used to assess allograft rejection and injury; dd-cfDNA levels <1% reflect the absence of active rejection (T cell-mediated type ≥IB or ABMR) and levels >1% indicate a probability of active rejection.
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    Game On: Ethics and eDiscovery
    (2016-11-11) Cohen, David; Kenney, Jeannine; Stafford, Elizabeth; Hook, Sara Anne
    You will be presented with a hypothetical case involving a series of ethical decisions related to the discovery process. On each decision you will be asked to vote on whether counsel acted ethically or unethically. You vote by marking your game board AND using the red and green colored cards at your place. Following each vote, we will provide you with our interpretation of the correct answer, and the basis for that interpretation. In labeling conduct ethical vs. unethical, we are referring to the ethical rules and guidelines applicable to U.S. licensed attorneys and their delegates – not necessarily what might be considered ethical or unethical in a non-legal context. Just because conduct may not comply with “best practices,” that alone does not make it “unethical” for present purposes For this game, conduct will be considered unethical if it: Violates one or more applicable ethical rules; and/or Violates one or more legal ethics opinions; and/or Would leave a party or its counsel at substantial risk of being sanctioned based on existing rules or case law