The Kidney Institute

Location

6018 Wahl Hall East

University of Kansas Medical Center

3901 Rainbow Boulevard

Kansas City, KS 66160-3018 

Overview

The Kidney Institute is a world-class, internationally recognized research center with funded investigators in six School of Medicine departments (Anatomy & Cell Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Internal Medicine, Molecular & Integrative Physiology, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Pharmacology & Toxicology), and one School of Allied Health department, Clinical Laboratory Sciences. The Kidney Institute also interacts with the KU Cancer Center, Liver Center, and Cardiovascular Institute, and has active members at other nearby entities including the Department of Molecular Biosciences at KU-Lawrence, the KC Veterans Administration Hospital, Childrens Mercy Hospital, University of Missouri Kansas City, and the Stowers Institute. The Kidney Institute investigators occupy open-access laboratory space on two floors of Wahl Hall East providing clinician-scientists and basic scientists with opportunities to closely interact within the physical confines of shared laboratory space to develop and collaborate on joint research projects. Research strengths in the Kidney Institute include glomerular and renal vascular disease, kidney developmental abnormalities, bone-kidney interactions, and polycystic kidney disease.

The Kidney Institute is active in training next-generation professionals through the T32 fellowship program and weekly salt & water conference, the nephrology fellows journal club, and the L.P. Sullivan Kidney Research conference.

Our Mission

The mission of The Kidney Institute is the promotion of research leading to a better understanding of renal disease and the development of clinical trials ultimately for improved patient outcomes.

In 2000, The Kidney Institute was awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health which was matched by KUMC to construct a 4 million dollar research laboratory to house the core group of principal investigators who work on kidney-related research problems and to serve as faculty for this training program. The Kidney Institute, which provides an organizational structure based on the common theme of kidney research to overlay the existing Departmental and Divisional organizations, is a major strength of the training program. In addition to 16,000 sq feet of state-of-the art research space that houses investigators from various Departments at KUMC, the Kidney Institute offers trainees access to a wide variety of new, state-of-the-art equipment.

Since its inception, the Kidney Institute has been a catalyst for research in the area of kidney disease, trained graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and has established Core laboratories to provide specialized tools for the study of kidney diseases. The extensive interdepartmental participation in the program reflects an existing atmosphere of scientific collegiality and openness that allows trainees to take full advantage of the rich scientific resources that are available. The KI is fully integrated with the Division of Nephrology and houses a flourishing research program in nephrology and basic science.

The network of program faculty provides opportunities for training in a number of key areas that are relevant to critical needs for kidney research in coming years. These include: