Research Updates in Kidney and Urologic Health

Recent Meetings

Task Force for Strategic Planning in PKD Research

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases' (NIDDK's) Division of Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases (KUH) convened a 2-day Strategic Planning Meeting for Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) in July 2002. Topics included molecular mechanisms for disease progression, progress in PKD imaging and its utilization as a marker in disease outcome, the role of the renin angiotensin system in disease progression, and progress in understanding the mechanism of recessive PKD. Participants identified opportunities for significant advances in the PKD field and developed an agenda for future research, including development of a disease registry, studies in cell biology and genetics, and therapeutic interventional approaches.

Workshops on Databases for Rare Genetic Disorders

Patient registries for rare genetic diseases are valuable to the research community because they collect data and samples from a widely dispersed population in a single site. In two meetings this summer, KUH heard from experts on patient registries and members of the disease research communities about the potential value of registries for dominant and recessive PKD and for hereditary kidney stone diseases, such as oxalosis and Dent disease. The PKD registry meeting, chaired by Dr. Judy Cho of the University of Chicago, was held in July as a breakout session at the Strategic Planning in PKD Research Meeting. The Hereditary Kidney Stone Disease meeting, co-chaired by Dr. Dawn Milliner of the Mayo Clinic and Dr. Christopher Danpure of University College London, focused on establishing registries of patients with oxalosis and other conditions that cause urinary stones and was held a month later in Boston.

Symposium for Principal Investigator Recipients of K Awards

KUH held a symposium in May 2002 for current recipients of career development grants, known as K Awards. Principal investigators discussed their research with other award recipients, initiated collaborations, and met KUH program staff.

Task Force on Chronic Kidney Disease in Children

The NIDDK hosted a meeting in April 2002 to hear expert advice on the value of systematic collection of information about children who have or who are at risk for kidney disease, and to look for cost-effective ways to strengthen this aspect of the NIDDK portfolio of investigation in pediatric nephrology. A summary of the meeting with recommendations for research priorities will soon be posted at www.niddk.nih.gov/fund/other/conferences.htm on the NIDDK website.

Kidney Disease Clinical Trials Task Force Workshop

The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the NIDDK hosted a meeting at ASN's Washington, DC, headquarters in March 2002 to discuss the development of an organizational structure to foster and facilitate conduct of kidney disease clinical trials. More than 50 members of the renal community attended the meeting to contribute their experience and ideas to developing a framework for a kidney disease clinical trials collaborative. A summary of the meeting will soon be posted at www.niddk.nih.gov/fund/other/conferences.htm on the NIDDK website.

Congenital Urinary Tract Obstruction—State of the Art Strategic Planning Workshop

Experts from the fields of nephrology, urology, pediatrics, perinatology, embryology, and genetics met in March 2002 to review basic and clinical knowledge of urinary reflux and obstructive uropathy in children, to determine areas where additional basic and clinical research is needed, and to develop a research plan. The NIDDK sponsored the 2-day workshop in cooperation with the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology, Society for Pediatric Urology, National Kidney Foundation, and American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urology. A meeting report with abstracts of the speakers' presentations is available for downloading at www.niddk.nih.gov/fund/other/pediatric.pdf (419 KB) on the NIDDK website.

Erythroid Cell Lineage Genomic Anatomy Project (ELGAP) Workshop

The NIDDK sponsored a workshop on December 19–20, 2001, to discuss erythroid cell functional genomics. The overall goals of erythroid functional genomics are to understand normal erythropoiesis and associated diseases and to develop novel therapeutic approaches. Meeting topics included erythroid cell biology, emerging genomic and proteomics technologies, bioinformatics, computational biology, and evolutionary biology. Participants identified areas where further research is needed, including global, molecular, and genetic descriptions of erythroid cells at various stages of development and differentiation; applications of molecular knowledge to human diseases; and computational biologic programs. In summary, the workshop highlighted the current state of knowledge and pointed to specific research areas that need to be addressed.

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