USC partners with the Keck School of Medicine of USC to fund and staff the Vito M. Campese, M.D./UKRO Kidney Research Center of USC (KRC). The KRC collaborates with world-renowned physicians and scientists from multiple departments and centers at USC and beyond. A dynamic campus promotes groundbreaking research and houses three hospitals, giving investigators the opportunity to learn from a diverse patient population.
KRC scientists are searching for answers to the most important questions about the kidney and kidney diseases. Their work focuses on:
- Creating a synthetic transplantable kidney with stem cell therapies
- Kidney degeneration and regeneration
- Uncovering new treatments and metabolic biomarkers for polycystic kidney disease (PKD)
- Preventing hypertension and developing individualized cures
- Developing novel therapies for acute kidney injury
- Discovering biomarkers for kidney cancer
- Protecting the health of living kidney donors
- Examining health policy and economics pertaining to kidney disease to improve patient care
Leadership
JANOS PETI-PETERDI, M.D., PH.D.
Director, Vito M. Campese, M.D./UKRO Kidney Research Center of USC; Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience, and Medicine
SUSAN GURLEY, M.D., PH.D.
Kenneth T. Norris, Jr. Chair of Medicine
Faculty
EUN JI CHUNG, PH.D.
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
STEFANO DA SACCO, PH.D.
Associate Professor of Urology
JESSE A. GOODRICH, PH.D.
Associate Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences
GEORGINA GYARMATI, M.D., PH.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience
EUGENE LIN, M.D., M.S., F.A.S.N
Assistant Professor of Medicine/Nephrology
ZHONGWEI LI, PH.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine/Nephrology and Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
NILS LINDSTROM, PH.D.
Assistant Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
ALICIA MCDONOUGH, PH.D.
Professor of Physiology
MITRA NADIM, M.D., F.A.S.N.
Professor of Clinical Medicine
JONATHAN NELSON, P.H.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
LAURA PERIN, P.H.D.
Associate Professor of Urology
ASTGIK PETROSYAN, P.H.D.
Assistant Professor of Urology
YASIR QAZI, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine
SARGIS SEDRAKYAN, P.H.D.
Assistant Professor of Urology
The History of the Kidney Research Center
In September 2012, UKRO entered into an agreement with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, pledging $3.5 million to establish a premier center nationally for kidney research—the USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center (KRC). The state-of-the-art laboratories designed specifically for kidney research officially opened in September of 2015. In 2024, the center was renamed the Vito M. Campese, M.D./UKRO Kidney Research Center of USC to honor our co-founder Dr. Campese’s 50 years of service at the Keck School of Medicine.
Read about research projects at the KRC.