Big News for National Kidney Month!

We’re excited to share that Janos Peti-Peterdi, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed the new director of the recently renamed Vito M. Campese, M.D./UKRO Kidney Research Center of USC! Dr. Peti-Peterdi is a brilliant researcher and a member of UKRO’s Medical Scientific Advisory Board, and we are proud to have supported his work over the years. At the Keck School since 2004, he is Professor and Acting Vice Chair of Physiology and Neuroscience, and Medicine. He established and is the director of the NIH-funded Multi-Photon Microscopy Core at USC. His ground-breaking research focuses on kidney and cardiovascular physiology and disease pathobiology.

Please enjoy this special post from Dr. Peti-Peterdi to celebrate World Kidney Day and National Kidney Month.

Each year, World Kidney Day in early springtime brings warmer weather and a sense of renewal, energy and new beginnings. Importantly, World Kidney Day and National Kidney Month also bring much-needed public awareness of our kidneys, these beautiful and vital organs. Our life and many other key organs, such as the heart, blood vessels, and the brain depend on keeping our kidneys happy and healthy. This day also brings awareness of kidney disease, a devastating chronic illness that is affecting an estimated 850 million people worldwide. There is no cure for chronic kidney disease, and therefore research is key to improve our understanding of the disease process and develop powerful medicine.

I have been a kidney enthusiast since I was born, thanks to my mother’s kidney disease. As a health professional and a family member of a beloved kidney patient (my story is available on the UKRO website here), I deeply appreciate our precious kidneys and the importance and urgency of developing a miracle cure. As director of the Vito M. Campese, M.D./UKRO Kidney Research Center of USC, I couldn’t be more optimistic about a major success in this front in the near future. The knowledge, expertise, determination and passion of our center faculty combined with our unique research focus, technology and approach makes us one of the most innovative and leading kidney research centers worldwide. We know we are on the right track, and with UKRO’s help we will get there soon.

Please take care of your kidneys. Eat and sleep well, exercise, rehydrate, check up with your primary care provider regularly, including urine and blood tests and blood pressure. Help us renew and energize our research efforts in partnership with UKRO and join many of our outreach, public awareness and research support activities. Finally, on this special day, enjoy and admire the beauty, the science and art of our kidneys as pictured here.

Dr. Janos Peti-Peterdi

The UKRO Story

UKRO was founded because of one simple question.

How can so little be known about kidney disease—a problem that affects 1 in 7 adults in the U.S.?

After entertainment lawyer Ken Kleinberg’s kidneys failed, he and his physician, Dr. Vito Campese, founded UKRO to fund innovative research to eradicate kidney disease.

To boost innovative solutions for kidney disease, UKRO partnered with USC to establish the Vito M. Campese, M.D./UKRO Kidney Research Center on USC’s Health Sciences Campus.

UKRO is committed to funding USC’s development of a transplantable synthetic kidney, derived from stem cells, that will improve treatment of kidney disease and replace dialysis.

A Stem Cell Revolution at USC

Team leader Dr. Zhongwei Li has recently been recognized with a prestigious NIH Directors’ New Innovator award.

His synthetic kidney begins with cells nurtured in a Petri dish, eventually growing into a full-fledged kidney within the patient’s body.

In just 5 to 7 years, we anticipate the synthetic kidney will be undergoing FDA trials and making its debut in human treatments. Already, mini cystic kidneys developed for this project are being utilized to model polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and perform drug screening to identify novel therapies.

Watch our videos below to learn more about the synthetic kidney and UKRO.