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Posted 12-10-99
Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine and Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital of University Hospitals of Cleveland were one of four medical centers in the United States, and the only pediatric center, which recently received funding for research and treatment of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) from the National Institutes of Health.
The designation is supported by a $5.4 million, five-year grant from the NIH, as well as $775,000 from the Polycystic Kidney Research (PKR) Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri.
The project director is Ellis Avner, chair of CWRU's Department of Pediatrics and Rainbow's medical director.
The project will be at the heart of the Rainbow Center for Childhood Polycystic Kidney Disease, which will use an interdisciplinary approach to research molecular and cellular changes resulting from the disease in the hope of developing new approaches to treat children who suffer from it. It will draw upon the expertise found in the Departments of Pediatrics, Genetics, and Physiology and Biophysics.
PKD affects 12 million to 15 million children and adults worldwide and is more common than cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell anemia, hemophilia, muscular dystrophy, and Down's Syndrome combined.
The disease causes fluid-filled cysts to form on the kidneys, which interferes with kidney function and most often culminates in end-stage renal disease, requiring either dialysis or a kidney transplant for survival. A child with an affected parent has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the disease. The annual cost to the federal government for PKD-associated treatment, including dialysis and kidney transplants, is estimated at $2 billion, according to the PKR Foundation.
There currently is no known treatment or cure for PKD.
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