Research
Our basic, clinical and translational research is aimed at identifying the major problems affecting children from birth throughout the life-course and into transition to adult care including:
- Disorders of abnormal kidney and genitourinary tract development
- Genetics of inherited kidney abnormalities and predisposition to chronic kidney injury
- Acquired kidney conditions including the nephrotic syndrome of childhood, immune-mediated disorders, high blood pressure and progressive kidney failure in the transplanted organ
We participate in the NIH-funded collaborative clinical trials to better understand chronic kidney disease, its prevention, and more effective treatment in children including:
Standardized Care to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric End-Stage Renal Disease (SCOPE)
Our pediatric dialysis center is an active member of the SCOPE collaborative, a multicenter performance improvement workgroup focused on reducing the rates of exit-site infections and peritonitis for children receiving chronic peritoneal dialysis. Through this network, CHAM patients have seen a 27 percent reduction in peritonitis rates already.
Understanding Focal Glomerulosclerosis
We are examining the role of Par1a/b in establishing and maintaining podocyte structure and defining polarity protein expression in human nephrotic syndrome and glomerulosclerosis. The team is hoping to identify new targets for therapeutic intervention and biomarkers for progressive kidney disease, and anticipates these discoveries will allow for early detection and early intervention as well as better treatments for focal glomerulosclerosis. In addition, we are involved in a collaboration examining the important risk cardiovascular alleles APOL 1 and 2 in African Americans born prematurely.
Better Diagnosis and Tailored Treatments for Lupus Nephritis
We are studying the role of microRNAs in the development and progression of lupus nephritis, their detection in human urine samples, and their role as biomarkers of active disease. We hope to find biomarkers that can both diagnose and measure disease, which may lead to tailored treatments rather than the current use of immunosuppressant drugs that target the whole kidney and can cause unwanted side effects.
The Nephrotic Syndrome Rare Disease Clinical Research Network and Cure Glomerulonephropathy
A collaboration conducting clinical and translational research in the major causes of glomerular diseases in children and adults.
The Chronic Kidney Disease in Children Cohort
A collaboration aimed at determining the risk factors for progressive kidney failure in infants and children and its effects on neurocognition, cardiovascular disease and growth and development.