WASHINGTON – – October 31, 2026 -- The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) has awarded U.S. Senator Susan M. Collins of Maine its 2026 National Leadership Award for Science and Medical Innovation, as kidney advocates push Congress to expand research funding by up to $1.8 billion through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Collins chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriations and serves on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), including its Primary Health and Retirement Security Subcommittee. AAKP cited her support for patient-centered policy, American science and organ donation reform.
Cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic conditions affect an estimated 240 million Americans
Kidney disease affects more than 37 million Americans. Interrelated cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic diseases have affected more than 25% of the adult population and are a leading cause of death. The American Heart Association estimates that 90% of U.S. adults, about 240 million people, have some degree of these interconnected conditions.
In Maine, U.S. Renal Data System figures show more than 228,000 people living with kidney disease and over 2,000 living with kidney failure. More than 1,400 are on in-center or home dialysis, and 700 are living with a kidney transplant. Across New England, an estimated 6,000-plus people are on the kidney transplant wait list.
Kidney community seeks up to $1.8 billion more in NIH and Defense Department research funding
The funding push is coordinated by the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), with AAKP advocates supporting it. AAKP President Edward V. Hickey III said that without taxpayer-funded federal investment in kidney science, patient choices and access to new treatments would be "far more limited" than they are today.
NIH grants in Maine have supported research on metabolic conditions including diabetes, as well as medical student training in kidney function and disease at the MDI Biological Institute in Bar Harbor. The Jackson Laboratories and MaineHealth also receive NIH funding for rural health and conditions such as cancer.
In September 2026, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences awarded MaineHealth a five-year, $13.2 million Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant. The money will further develop the COBRE in Acute Care Research and Rural Health established by the MaineHealth Institute for Research.
Living Donor Protection Act cleared the Senate HELP Committee on February 26, 2026
AAKP and a coalition of patient organizations, transplant experts and Congressional allies are working to secure passage of the bipartisan Living Donor Protection Act (LDPA), S. 1552/H.R. 4582 and H.R. 4583. The bill protects living organ donors from job and insurance discrimination based solely on their decision to donate a kidney. Potential donors cite those barriers most often.
Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) lead the bill. The HELP Committee advanced it with full bipartisan support, including Collins. AAKP, the kidney community and the American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI) have endorsed it.
Passage would codify the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protections for living organ donors that the U.S. Department of Labor extended in 2018. It would also prohibit insurers from discriminating against living donors.