Duke Nephrology faculty work in multidisciplinary teams to integrate inpatient and outpatient clinical services with clinical, translational, and basic research programs. Their work largely takes place in the centers listed below.
Centers and Institutes
Duke Cardiovascular Research Center (Duke CVRC)
Under the direction of Howard Rockman, MD the Duke CVRC promotes and stimulates basic discoveries that will advance understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases that will enhance clinical care, by developing novel diagnostic strategies, and identifying new targets for therapy. To promote these objectives, the Center provides a framework of support of more than 60 faculty members spanning six academic departments at Duke University and Duke-NUS in Singapore. Through the Center, we have launched a series of programs designed to encourage the development of an interactive and synergistic community of scientists focused on addressing critical problems in cardiovascular disease.
Duke Molecular Physiology Institute (DMPI)
The DMPI's mission is to produce integrated multi-omics and physiologic profiles of chronic human diseases, and to use such profiles to develop new disease detection strategies, novel therapies, and insights into disease mechanisms. The center is directed by Dr. Chris Newgard.
The Duke Hypertension Center
The Hypertension Center provides a focus for the care of hypertensive patients and for broad initiatives in hypertension research.
Duke Institute for Renal Outcomes Research at Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI)
The Duke Institute for Renal Outcomes Research provides training and research in epidemiology and outcomes of patients with renal disease.
Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center
Under the direction of Laura P. Svetkey, MD, MHS, the Stedman Center provides clinical research into:
- Mechanisms involved in regulation of insulin secretion from the pancreas
- How the body uses dietary copper and iron
- Mechanisms by which nutrition links to immune system function
- Mechanisms involved in whole body fuel homeostasis, including the responses of muscle and liver to overnutrition and exercise
- The role of microRNAs in control of pancreatic islet function and survival
Labs
The Coffman Lab: Research in the Coffman Lab addresses issues relevant to disorders such as hypertension, diabetic nephropathy, transplant rejection, and autoimmune diseases.
The Crowley Lab: Research in the Crowley Lab explores the contribution of the immune system and inflammatory mediators to the progression of target organ damage in the setting of cardiovascular disease.
The Foster Lab: Research in the Foster Lab focuses on autoimmune glomerulonephritis, a major cause of acute and chronic kidney disease worldwide.
The Gbadegesin Lab: Research in the Gbadegesin lab focuses on understanding the molecular pathogenesis of childhood onset nephrotic syndrome, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and vesicoureteric reflux (a common congenital malformation of the kidney and the urinary tract).
The Grabner Lab: Research in the Grabner lab focuses on analyzing molecular mechanisms that contribute to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the cardio-renal syndrome.
The Hall Lab: Research in the Hall Lab utilizes genomic, transcriptomic and functional biochemical strategies to characterize the mechanisms of podocyte injury and failure in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and other forms of nephrotic syndrome (NS). The goal of the research is to translate novel discoveries in renal genetics into rational therapies and diagnostic tools for patients with NS.
The Musah Lab: Research in Musah Lab focuses on the development of novel methods to direct the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells and engineering of microphysiological systems.
The Olabisi Lab: Research in Olanisi Lab focuses to delineate the mechanism by which kidney disease risk variants in APOL1 accelerate the progression of kidney disease in humans.
The Souma Lab: Research in the Souma lab studies the basic mechanisms of kidney injuries and repair.
The Sparks Lab: Research is to identify novel mechanisms to target drug therapy for patients with hypertension.
The Spurney Lab: The Spurney Lab focuses on the role of G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) in regulating cellular physiology.
The Wolf Lab: Understanding the relationship between FGF23, CKD, and cardiovascular disease.