SEATTLE— In an era of overflowing scientific data, the newly established Kidney Research Institute is looking to aim its research at real benefits for kidney disease patients, such as higher quality of life and lower mortality rates.
“Data have confirmed a very high rate of kidney disease in our society, and that there are a multitude of problems that kidney patients face, including an uncommonly high mortality rate,” Jonathan Himmelfarb, MD, KRI director, said. “It is time to aggressively seek new approaches to identifying kidney disease early and preventing its progression, discover better predictors of kidney-disease associated risk, find new, effective treatments for advanced kidney disease through relevant research, and then translate these discoveries back into direct and improved care for the patient.”
Dialysis provider Northwest Kidney Centers has committed $3 million so far to the establishment of the KRI, to fulfill the Northwest Kidney Centers’ mission of advancing knowledge through research. In addition, in September 2007, NorthwestKidneyCenters and Kirin-Amgen announced an honorary gift of $1.5 million to the University of Washington Division of Nephrology to create the Joseph W. Eschbach Endowed Chair in Kidney Research. The gift recognizes Eschbach’s groundbreaking research in anemia, his work to improve kidney dialysis and his remarkable advancements in the field of nephrology.
An Underappreciated Issue
Last month, Himmelfarb arrived in Seattle to begin the direction of innovative research studies at KRI, which is a partnership between NorthwestKidneyCenters and the University of Washington Division of Nephrology.
In addition to his directorship of KRI, Himmelfarb has been appointed a professor in the University of Washington Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, and is the first holder of the Joseph W. Eschbach Endowed Chair in Kidney Research at UW.
Kidney disease is an under-appreciated public health issue, according to Himmelfarb. He is particularly concerned with the connection between kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. “Kidney patients are far more likely to die prematurely from cardiovascular-related illness rather than developing end-stage kidney disease requiring dialysis or kidney transplantation. If end-stage kidney disease does develop, then the cardiovascular risks are further multiplied.”
Himmelfarb added these statistics: A 20-year-old with end-stage kidney disease on dialysis assumes the same cardiovascular risk of an 80 to 85-year-old without kidney disease. Moreover, in 1972, there were an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 kidney patients on dialysis nationwide. Today, 450,000 people suffer from kidney failure. By 2030, more than two million Americans will need dialysis, unless better preventative treatments can be found.
