Christiana Adegbola

Supervisor(s): Dr. Jagbir Gill
Award: KRESCENT Summer Studentship
Institution: University of British Columbia
Year: 2026
Project Title: Evaluating the BRIDGE to Transplantation Initiative to Improve Kidney Transplant Access for Indigenous Patients in BC

Biography

I am a first year Bachelor of Health Sciences student at Queen’s University with a strong interest in medicine, health equity, and clinical research. I am grateful to be participating in the 2026 KRESCENT Summer Studentship Program under the supervision of Dr. Jagbir Gill, where I hope to strengthen my research skills and learn more about kidney health. Through this opportunity, I look forward to gaining meaningful experience in patient centered research and contributing to work that supports better health outcomes for diverse communities.

Lay Summary

Kidney transplantation can offer people with kidney failure a longer and better quality of life compared with dialysis. However, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis patients continue to face barriers in accessing kidney transplantation, including late referrals, long transplant workups, travel burdens, lack of culturally safe care, and discomfort navigating the transplant and living donation process. Research from the BRIDGE team has shown that Indigenous patients may experience systemic racism, uncertainty, and a lack of Indigenous specific support while moving through the transplant system. These barriers can delay or prevent access to transplantation.

This summer, I will be contributing to the evaluation of the BRIDGE to Transplantation Initiative, a province wide health services project in British Columbia. BRIDGE aims to improve access to living donor and deceased donor kidney transplantation for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis patients with kidney failure. The initiative includes Indigenous self identification, earlier referral to transplant services, earlier assessment, Indigenous Wellness Liaison support, nurse navigation, and culturally responsive education sessions.

My research will focus on helping the team understand how well these supports are being implemented and whether they are improving the transplant journey for Indigenous patients. This may include reviewing project data, organizing evaluation information, and supporting analysis of patient, staff, and program feedback. The evaluation will look at whether BRIDGE is improving access to transplant referrals, reducing delays, making the process easier to navigate, increasing comfort and knowledge about transplantation, and supporting culturally safe care.

This work is important because kidney transplantation is a complex process that often requires patients and potential living donors to complete many appointments, tests, and conversations with the transplant team. In British Columbia, living kidney donation can involve multiple steps, including pre screening, medical testing, transplant team evaluation in Vancouver, surgery, and long-term follow-up. For patients who live far from Vancouver or who have experienced unsafe care in the past, this process can feel overwhelming. BRIDGE seeks to reduce these barriers by providing coordinated, culturally informed support throughout the transplant journey.

By evaluating BRIDGE, this project will help identify what is working well, what still needs to be improved, and how transplant services can better support Indigenous patients and families. The overall goal is to contribute to a more equitable, respectful, and accessible kidney transplant system in BC.