The Division of Nephrology and its affiliated faculty have had exciting growth in several areas of clinical research and have a broad range of clinical research interests. Key areas of intense research among division members include:
Cardiovascular Disease
- clinical trials in mechanisms of hypertension and accelerated cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal disease, and renal transplantation
- clinical trials exploring effects of vitamin supplementation on vascular disease among patients with kidney disease
- kidney disease and hypertension in the African American population
Acute Renal Failure
- studies in survival of hospital patients with acute renal failure and examination of delivery of renal replacement therapies
- development of a bioartificial kidney now in a multi-center clinical trial
End-Stage Renal Disease, Dialysis, and Kidney Transplantation
- examination of various dialysis access techniques for hemodialysis therapy
- bioengineering and investigation of dialysis access with an emphasis on surveillance techniques
- access to kidney transplantation and renal transplant survival in the minority population
- clinical pharmacology of immunosuppressive medications
Faculty in the division are lead investigators and collaborators on recent NIH-sponsored multi-center clinical trials like the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study. Many faculty conduct patient-oriented research at the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR), which was founded in 2006 to enable and enhance clinical and translational research at the University of Michigan.
Clinician scientists in the division have spear-headed collaborations with investigators regionally at Detroit Medical Center and St. John Hospital, as well as across the United States and internationally.
Faculty involved in clinical research:
- Michael Heung, MD, MS, PubMed
- Alan Leichtman, MD, PubMed
- Joseph Messana, MD, PubMed
- Abhijit Naik, MD, MPH, PubMed
- Panduranga Rao, MD, DNB, MS, PubMed
- Rajiv Saran, MBBS, MD, DTCD, MRCP, MS, PubMed
- Jonathan Segal, MD, MS, PubMed
- Vahakn Shahinian, MD, MS, PubMed
- Balazs Szamosfalvi, MD, PubMed
- William Weitzel, III, MD, PubMed
- Julie Wright, MD, MPH, PubMed
- Lenar Yessayan, MD, PubMed
- Eric Young, MD, PubMed