McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Ora Weisz, PhD (pictured), professor of medicine, cell biology, and physiology, University of Pittsburgh, has been named the associate director of the Kidney Research Center. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Renal-Electrolyte Division recently announced its receipt of a nearly $4 million, 5-year Kidney Research Center grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), one of only eight centers in the United States.
The Center will support four main core facilities: cellular physiology, single nephron and whole organ physiology, imaging at a cellular and organ level, and the use of model organisms to elucidate novel aspects of kidney function. All research cores are structured to serve as nationwide resources for investigators.
According to the American Society of Nephrology, approximately 20 million Americans have some evidence of chronic kidney disease and are at risk to develop kidney failure. Another 20 million are at increased risk for developing kidney disease. Pittsburgh has one of the highest rates of end-stage kidney disease in the United States, with an estimated 3,200 local patients on dialysis. Nationally, more than 485,000 Americans have kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplantation.
The NIDDK established the George M. O’Brien Kidney Research program in 1987 to improve efficiency and collaborative research efforts among groups of investigators at institutions with an established comprehensive kidney research base.
The Kidney Research Center also will support 2-year pilot research projects that are currently led by Linton Traub, PhD, associate professor of cell biology and physiology; Agnes Swiatecka-Urban, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics; and Kenneth Hallows, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, cell biology, and physiology.
Thomas R. Kleyman, MD, chief of the renal-electrolyte division and professor of medicine, cell biology, and physiology, and pharmacology and chemical biology at the University of Pittsburgh, will serve as director of the Center.
Illustration: McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
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UPMC Media Relations (09/10/08)
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Renal-Electrolyte Division
Bio: Ora Weisz, PhD