The Kidney-Heart Connection

By UKRO Board Member, Dr. Oliver Brooks

We look to February 14th, Valentine’s Day, as a time to celebrate love, with the symbol of love being the heart. This symbol stems from the lore that the emotional, feeling aspect of being human has its seat in the heart, just as the resting place for intellect and reason resides in the brain. One “breathes new life” into a relationship, linking the lungs with the heart. Where does that leave the kidney?

We at UKRO know that the organs are all inexorably linked, both biologically and spiritually. The cardiac output—the amount of blood the heart pumps—sends 20% of the total blood to the brain, and an equal amount to the kidneys, so arguably they share equal importance. We see the kidneys in this way. We see that when the kidneys are not functioning, the heart is directly affected: stress from hypertension, excess fluid making the heart work harder, and so on. When developed, a synthetic kidney will “breathe life” into the millions that have lost their own kidney function, and will send relief to the heart.

So, as we celebrate love on Valentine’s Day, UKRO’s work shows our love for the kidney, and for those who will benefit from our synthetic kidney.

Dr. Oliver Brooks

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, MD/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 their 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.