Vanderbilt Center for Kidney Disease
Better Understanding Kidney Disease: From Basic research to Public Outreach
The Vanderbilt Center for Kidney Disease (VCKD), based in Nashville, Tennessee, exists to advance medical and biological research into Kidney Disease, through the provision of experimental services, basic research, education as well as outreach.
With standardized, high quality phenotyping services for kidney disease models as well as experimental platforms for testing potential therapeutic interventions, VCKD provides state-of-the-art facilities and services to researchers across the scientific community.
At the same time, VCKD is doing a wide range of its own Kidney Disease basic research, looking at understanding the mechanisms behind kidney disease and finding interventions that may improve patients’ lives. One research project looks at gene editing in vivo using mouse models, with the aim of establishing a procedure that could help patients with monogenic kidney disease. Researchers are also involved in the development of an artificial kidney – an implant that could spare patients from the burden of dialysis.
VCKD is also involved in a range of translational and clinical research projects, ensuring patients living with kidney disease are better cared for and better treated. Through helping clinicians better communicate with their patients about kidney health, VCKD researchers are improving both the understanding patients have of their disease, as well as patient outcomes.
With a similar focus on the broader causes of patient wellbeing, VCKD researchers are also involved in the Million Veterans Program, which seeks to recruit and genotype a million veterans to understand better how their genes and lifestyle affects outcomes across a wide range of conditions, including kidney disease.
With these research projects and more, VCKD is providing the services and expertise driving research to better understand kidney disease, as well as how to better treat patients suffering from this debilitating condition.
