Intro: It’s Taneisha Nicole here for an episode of Ask A Scientist. Today I’m talking with Dr. Sean Agbor-Enoh from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at NIH about his research around lung transplants.

TN: Dr. Agbor-Enoh, you told me a common problem for transplant patients is “rejection”. What is that?

SAE: The immunity of that recipient mounts itself to attack and reject that donor organ. That attack and that rejection of that donor organ is what we call rejection. We are asking the question if we start that treatment for rejection early, do we save that organ from being rejected?

TN: How might your research help patients?

SAE: What we’ve developed is a blood test. A blood test that can pick up that this patient is going to reject for approximately four months before the patient shows any signs of rejection. Early, early detection.

Outro: Find more on the impact of scientific research at nhlbi.nih.gov.