Dr. Mohan’s significant gift will help fund the USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center, which will conduct basic and applied research programs to identify the causes, improve upon the existing treatments, and—ultimately—seek a cure for all forms of kidney disease.
LOS ANGELES, CA, September 30, 2013 – UKRO (University Kidney Research Organization), a Los Angeles–based nonprofit charity supporting kidney disease research, is extremely pleased to announce a generous contribution of $100,000 from Dr. Krishna J. Mohan of Mohan Dialysis Center of Covina, Inc. This contribution is an exciting step forward in the establishment of the USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center (KRC) on USC’s Health Sciences Campus, which is being jointly funded by the Keck School of Medicine of USC and UKRO.
“An estimated 26 millions people in America suffer from chronic kidney disease. If we are to lift the scourge of this epidemic and the staggering financial burdens it imposes, the answers lie in research. Dr. Mohan’s gift brings hope to kidney patients everywhere and is a terrific, meaningful, and generous contribution to our campaign to fulfill our financial commitment to the new USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center,” said UKRO president Kenneth Kleinberg. “As a physician in internal medicine and nephrology, Dr. Mohan understands the vital necessity of cutting-edge kidney research and the importance of collaboration between scientists working in a variety of fields, including stem cells and organ regeneration—research to which the KRC will be wholly dedicated. We are deeply appreciative of his support.”
UKRO made an initial multimillion-dollar pledge to support the establishment of the KRC, which will conduct both basic and applied research programs with the goal of becoming a premier national kidney research center. The Keck School of Medicine of USC will match the amount that UKRO has pledged for the KRC.
The KRC will be operated under the auspices of the Keck School of Medicine’s nephrology division, chaired by Vito M. Campese, M.D., professor of medicine, who also chairs UKRO’s Medical Scientific Advisory Board and has been instrumental in the planning of the USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center. Dr. Campese added, “Despite enormous progress made in the last 50 years, as of today we do not know the causes of many kidney diseases and how to best treat them. With this new research center we plan to further unravel the causes of many kidney diseases and the connections between kidney disease and cardiovascular diseases, and hopefully contribute to reducing the number of patients who reach the point of needing dialysis treatment and transplantation.”
ABOUT DR. KRISHNA MOHAN
Dr. Mohan attended medical school at Maharashtra University of Health Sciences and graduated from Indira Gandhi Medical College at Nagpur, India, in 1973. He trained in internal medicine at New Jersey’s Morristown Memorial Hospital, and in nephrology at Kaiser Foundation Hospital-Los Angeles.
ABOUT THE KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE OF USC
The Keck School of Medicine of USC is among the nation’s leaders in innovative clinical care, research, and education. Located on the university’s 31-acre Health Sciences Campus three miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, the Keck School is adjacent to the Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, one of the largest teaching hospitals in the United States. The school’s faculty and residents serve more than 1 million patients each year at Keck Hospital of USC, USC Norris Cancer Hospital, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, LAC USC Medical Center, and additional USC-affiliated hospitals throughout Southern California. The Keck School of Medicine houses several research institutes, including the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine at USC, the USC Cardiovascular Thoracic Institute, and the USC Institute for Global Health. Established in 1885, the Keck School is the oldest medical school in Southern California.
For more information on the Keck School of Medicine, visit keck.usc.edu.