Research

We have had a long standing and externally funded research program in fundamental biology that has had two broad areas of interest: the first is in the broad area of epithelial sodium transport in the distal nephron and the second is the area of sFlt1 biogenesis and regulation in the trophoblast and its function in the vasculature and in the kidney.   We have a growing clinical interest in genetic kidney diseases and working with the Department of Pediatrics and the Genetic Counseling service, we have established a multidisciplinary Renal Genetics Clinic, a first for this region.  In collaboration with the Iowa Institute of Human Genetics and Dr. Richard Smith, we have also helped developed the first comprehensive renal genetic panel using targeted genomic enrichment and massively parallel sequencing, called KidneySeq™.  Our published works have reported on the usefulness of unbiased renal genetic screening for a variety of kidney diseases and have also demonstrated the role of a dedicated Renal Genetics Clinic in serving as a resource for the nephrology community.