UKRO was founded in 2002 to raise money for medical research to find the causes of kidney disease, develop improved treatments, and—ultimately—prevent all forms of the malady. Since 2002, we have raised significant dollars to fund educational symposia, fellowships and cutting-edge research at the earliest stage of development. Our special project grants have been awarded to nationally recognized experts from interdisciplinary labs at USC Keck School of Medicine, City of Hope, and UCLA.
We support basic research as well as translational research that will lead to improved treatment for kidney patients. Both types of research take a great deal of time, money, and collaborative effort.
In September 2012, UKRO entered into an agreement with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California to establish what we envision as a a premier center nationally for kidney research—the USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center (KRC).
In October 2021, UKRO’s Board of Directors committed to funding USC’s development of a revolutionary synthetic kidney, derived from stem cells, that will improve treatment of kidney disease and replace dialysis.