NIH Grant Will Expand Kidney Disease Research
The Indiana University School of Medicine Division of Nephrology
has received a $5 million George M. O'Brien Kidney Research Center
grant from the National Institutes of Health, one of only seven
such centers in the nation.
O'Brien Centers represent an integrated program of kidney-related
research. The goal of the funding is to increase collaboration among
groups of investigators at institutions with established comprehensive
kidney research programs and to attract scientists from various
disciplines to study the basic mechanisms of kidney diseases.
"The O'Brien Center grant recognizes Indiana University's
excellence in the field of kidney disease research," says Bruce
A. Molitoris, MD, professor of medicine and principal investigator.
"Our research is primarily dedicated to understanding the cellular
mechanisms of acute renal failure and finding new approaches to
therapy."
Seventeen faculty members, from five different IU departments,
are involved with the grant. In addition to Dr. Molitoris, program
and pilot project leaders are Simon J. Atkinson, PhD, associate
professor of medicine; Pierre Dagher, MD, assistant professor of
medicine; Kenneth W. Dunn, PhD, associate professor of medicine;
Robert A. Harris, PhD, distinguished professor, Showalter Professor
of Biochemistry and chairman of biochemistry and molecular biology;
James Marrs, PhD, associate professor of medicine; and Sudhanshu
Raikwar, PhD, assistant scientist in urology.
Preliminary data and many of the scientific approaches used in
the grant were developed at the Indiana Center for Biological Microscopy's
unique imaging facility. This modern facility, directed by Dr. Dunn,
features confocal epifluorescence and spinning disc confocal and
multiphoton microscopes.
These microscopes, in combination with computer software developed
within the Division of Nephrology, produce high-resolution, three-dimensional
images of cells, tissues and organs in living animals and other
tissue, allowing for advanced analysis of biological processes in
normal and disease states. Investigators can study ongoing cellular
processes related to kidney function by looking into a living kidney
at the sub-cellular level.
The O'Brien Center grant will allow IU investigators to help researchers
at other institutions expand the understanding of kidney disease
by assisting them with the use of the state-of-the-art microscopy
equipment and imaging software developed at IU.
The grant highlights the importance of the Indiana Genomics Initiative
to advance IU's research and ability to attract other grants. Funds
from INGEN were used to purchase a second multiphoton microscope
for the Indiana Center for Biological Microscopy.
The INGEN initiative was funded by a $105 million grant from the
Lilly Endowment Inc.
The O'Brien Center is only one aspect of IU's contribution to kidney
disease research, Dr. Molitoris notes. Research will continue into
polycystic kidney disease, metabolic bone disease, hypertension,
diabetic nephropathy and novel imaging and computer enhancement
techniques.
"The ultimate goal of all O'Brien Center research, of course,
is to find new and better ways to treat or prevent kidney diseases,"
says Dr. Molitoris. Acute renal failure occurs in up to five percent
of all hospitalized adult patients, but is more common in patients
with cardiac, liver and infectious diseases.
O'Brien Center funds will allow investigators at IU to further
basic science and the understanding of kidney disease and assist
with the translation of information into new therapeutic approaches
to acute renal failure.
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