Research

Department of Medicine
Nephrology Research

Research activities are key to our overall mission to be a center of excellence for translational research. We strongly believe in individualized research tracks for our fellows and mold research activities to their strengths and interests. Our faculty has a wide range of research interests that our fellows can choose from. We are also home to the Arizona Kidney and Vascular Program.

Nephrology Faculty Engaged in Biomedical Research

Dr. Brosius is one of the country’s leading experts in diabetic kidney disease. He is an active member of the Arizona Kidney and Vascular Center and involved in translational and clinical research in both vascular access and diabetic kidney disease. Dr. Brosius is funded through the NIH. Dr. Brosius joined us in 2017 from the University of Michigan, where he was the director for the Division of Nephrology and the university’s George M. O’Brien Kidney National Resource Center.

Dr. Thajudeen’s main interests are in acute kidney injury and telemedicine. He is actively involved in the clinical research activities of the division and is the site PI for a study on CRRT in the ICU.

Dr. Murugapandian is dual board eligible in both nephrology and geriatrics. She joined our faculty from the University of Louisville and is developing a research program in frailty in collaboration with geriatric medicine.

Dr. El-Kass is an interventional nephrologist who is involved in a translational research project to identify predictors of vascular access success and failure.

Dr. Schnellman is the dean of the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy and leads an internationally renowned program on drug development for acute kidney injury. Dr. Schnellman is funded through NIH and VA grants.

Arizona Kidney and Vascular Program

The Arizona Kidney and Vascular Program is a translational and patient-centric research program led by Dr. Roy-Chaudhury. It is focused on uremic vascular biology, both in the context of dialysis vascular access dysfunction and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end stage renal disease (ESRD, dialysis and transplantation).

The goal of the Arizona Kidney and Vascular Center is to identify and explore mechanistic pathways that are involved in the pathogenesis of both dialysis vascular access dysfunction and uremic cardiovascular disease in patients with CKD and ESRD, and to use this information to further a precision medicine approach to this problem (biomarkers, risk stratification and novel therapies).

We aim to achieve this goal through the use of (a) large and small animal models of arteriovenous fistula (AVF), arteriovenous graft (AVG) and tunneled dialysis catheter (TDC) dysfunction (including kidney failure models), (b) human blood and tissue from CKD and ESRD patients undergoing a vascular access or other procedure, (c) a robust clinical research program and (d) linkages to clinical care.

  • Elucidation of the mechanistic pathways involved in vascular access dysfunction using a mouse model of AVF stenosis in genetically modified mice
  • Documentation of the interactions between hemodynamic stress and vascular stenosis using pig models of AVF stenosis
  • Analysis of blood and tissue samples from CKD and ESRD patients to better understand the role of uremic vascular biology in both vascular access dysfunction and cardiovascular complications in these patients
  • Development of novel devices and intellectual property to improve the care of patients with vascular access dysfunction
  • Active participation in over 15 NIH, industry-sponsored and investigator initiated clinical research projects and clinical trials in the areas of dialysis access dysfunction, cardiovascular morbidity, CKD progression and hemodialysis

Academic Community Partnerships

We have developed strong links with community nephrologists for education, research and clinical care. This is a key aspect of the Arizona Kidney and Vascular Center.

Academic-Industry Partnerships

We interact with a number of industry partners to test out novel and innovative technologies.

Academic-DCI Partnerships

We are in he process of developing links with our dialysis provider DCI for clinical and process of care research.

We have strong relationships with the clinical nephrology enterprise at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, and members of the laboratory and students have ample opportunities for clinical shadowing and observation of procedures that include dialysis access creation, endovascular interventions, hemodialysis and kidney transplantation.

This research program is funded through the NIH, Veterans Administration, National Science Foundation, and industry grants and contracts.