Hope for Organs Foundation
Helping damaged organs heal themselves.
Liver, kidney and lung failure usually begins with scarring called fibrosis. We fund research into therapies that may slow, stop or reverse that scarring, so more people can keep their own organs instead of waiting for a transplant.
Sources: HRSA, OrganDonor.gov (reviewed August 2026) and CDC, Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States (2026).
Our mission
There are not enough organs. So we are working on the organs people already have.
More than 49,000 transplants were performed in the U.S. in 2025. The waiting list is still more than twice that long.
Most organ failure does not happen overnight. When the liver, kidneys or lungs are injured again and again, the body patches the damage with scar tissue. Over years, scar builds up faster than the organ can clear it, and the working tissue is crowded out.
That process is called fibrosis, and it is a shared path in many liver, kidney and lung diseases. Research shows that at earlier stages, fibrosis can slow down and sometimes partly reverse when its cause is treated.
Hope for Organs supports research into antifibrotic approaches, including a pirfenidone-based formulation. Pirfenidone is already an FDA-approved medicine for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a scarring disease of the lungs. Our question is whether a similar approach could help other organs keep working longer.
Liver · Kidney · Lung
How scarring progresses in each organ
Doctors describe each disease in stages. Choose an organ, then tap a stage to see what is happening. Liver stiffness values are approximate FibroScan ranges; your doctor reads them with your full history.
Liver disease guide
From a healthy liver to cirrhosis
Liver disease usually moves through the same steps. The earlier it is found, the more the liver can recover. These drawings show what changes at each step.
Fibrosis stages and liver stiffness
| Stage | Meaning | FibroScan (approx.) | What it means and how reversible it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| F0 | No fibrosis | 2–7 kPa | No scarring. If fat or inflammation is present, it is highly reversible with lifestyle changes. |
| F1 | Mild fibrosis | 2–7 kPa | Scarring is limited to small areas. Usually reversible when the cause is treated. |
| F2 | Moderate fibrosis | 7.5–10 kPa | Scar starts to spread. Often the point where doctors begin medical treatment. Reversible with weight loss, metabolic control and medicine. |
| F3 | Advanced fibrosis | 10–14 kPa | Bands of scar connect parts of the liver. High risk of progressing. Can still improve with strong treatment of the cause. |
| F4 | Cirrhosis | > 14 kPa | Widespread scar and nodules. Long seen as permanent, but some patients improve when the cause is removed, such as curing hepatitis C. |
FibroScan values are approximate guides. Cutoffs differ by cause of liver disease, and a doctor interprets them with blood tests and history.
Symptoms, tests and treatment
Symptoms
- Tiredness and weakness
- Loss of appetite, nausea
- Discomfort in the upper right belly
- Yellow skin or eyes (jaundice)
- Itching
- Swelling in the legs or belly
Early liver disease often has no symptoms. Don't wait for them to get checked.
Tests and diagnosis
- Liver blood tests to check how the liver is working
- FibroScan or ultrasound to measure liver stiffness and fat
- Other blood tests to find the cause, such as hepatitis
- Liver biopsy in some cases, to see the tissue directly
Treatment and protection
- Treat the cause: viral hepatitis, alcohol, fatty liver
- Healthy diet and a healthy weight
- Regular exercise
- Medicines as your doctor prescribes
- Regular check-ups and follow-up tests
What color is your urine?
See a doctor promptly if dark urine comes with yellow eyes or skin, pale stools, or belly pain. Those can be signs of liver disease.
Our research
An honest path from the lab to patients
A new therapy must pass through each of these steps before anyone can receive it. Each one protects patients, and each one costs time and money. Our work is at an early stage.
- Where we are
Laboratory and safety research
Developing the formulation and gathering the safety data regulators require.
- Next
Discussions with the FDA
Meeting regulators to agree on what must be shown before testing in people.
- Then
IND application
The Investigational New Drug filing that must be cleared before any human study.
- Then
Phase 1 safety study
A small, closely monitored study in volunteers, with independent ethics review.
- Only if results support it
Larger studies
Testing whether the treatment works, in more patients, under FDA oversight.
Clinical trials: no Hope for Organs study is enrolling patients today. The therapies we hope to study are investigational: they are not approved by the FDA and not available for sale or treatment. If a study opens, it will be listed on ClinicalTrials.gov and announced here.
Donate
Every gift moves the research forward.
Bringing a therapy from the laboratory to a regulated clinical trial takes years and serious funding. Gifts of every size go to the work on this page.
- Laboratory and safety research
- Regulatory preparation and FDA filings
- Future clinical trial costs
- Patient education about liver, kidney and lung health
Donations are received by Foundation for Liver, Kidney and Brain Research and Treatment, Inc., doing business as Hope for Organs. Questions about a gift: info@hopefororgans.org.
Questions
What people ask us
Can I get this treatment now?
No. The therapies we hope to study are investigational. They are not approved by the FDA and not available outside a regulated clinical trial, and no trial is enrolling today. Nothing on this site is medical advice. Please talk with your own doctor about your care.
Is fibrosis really reversible?
Sometimes, especially at earlier stages. When the cause of injury is removed, for example when hepatitis C is cured or alcohol use stops, liver scarring can improve. Advanced scarring is much harder to reverse. That is why research into antifibrotic therapies matters.
What does my donation pay for?
Laboratory and safety research, regulatory preparation and FDA filings, future clinical trial costs, and education for patients and families about organ health.
Why fund this instead of more transplants?
Both matter, and we encourage everyone to register as an organ donor. But there are far more people waiting than organs available, and a transplant means major surgery and lifelong anti-rejection medicine. A therapy that helps a person's own organ keep working would help people on both sides of that gap.
Can I join a future study?
No study is enrolling yet. When one opens, it will be listed on ClinicalTrials.gov and announced on this site. You can email us to ask to be told when that happens.
Who runs Hope for Organs?
Hope for Organs is the public name of Foundation for Liver, Kidney and Brain Research and Treatment, Inc. Registration and tax details are available on request at info@hopefororgans.org.
About and contact
Talk with us
For questions about our research, partnerships, media or a gift, write to us. We read every message.