Welcome to the Washington University Kidney O’Brien Center for Chronic Kidney Disease Research
Division of Nephrology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Taking CKD research to the next level through Team Science
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects almost 15% of the US population and carries significant morbidity and mortality.
Although significant scientific advances have the promise to accelerate CKD research, many of the advances are not accessible to the kidney research community due to limited expertise and/or the need for expensive equipment.
The Washington University Kidney O’Brien Center for Chronic Kidney Disease Research will strive to make cutting-edge technologies, resources, and training more accessible to the kidney research community.
Working Together to Develop Technology and Share Resources
The WashU Kidney O’Brien Center for CKD Research consists of four Core centers, an Administrative Core, a Resource Development Core, and two Biomedical Resource Cores.
Our Core teams work with the George M. O’Brien Kidney Consortium – O’Brien National Resource Centers network, which plays a vital role in advancing kidney research by bringing together teams of investigators from a wide range of disciplines, fostering collaboration, resource sharing and innovation.
Our Cores
Administrative Core
Oversee distribution of funds across the Cores, communicate with the National O’Brien Consortium, manage the Summer Opportunities for Achievement in Research program, and promote the involvement of early-stage investigators and a diverse workforce.
Single Cell Omics Research Evolution “SCORE” Core
(Resource Development Core)
Develops protocols and bioinformatics pipelines for cutting-edge techniques (split pool barcoding for single nuclei multi-omics and high resolution in-situ sequencing-based spatially resolved transcriptomics.
Metabolism Core
(Biomedical Resource Core)
Provides consultation for users and access to a number of metabolic assays to interrogate changes in kidney metabolism relevant to CKD.
The Metabolism Core will also work with the O’Brien Consortium to provide validated protocols for commonly performed assays and provide hands-on training using these protocols.
Variant Validation Core
(Biomedical Resource Core)
Investigates the pathogenicity of genetic variants of uncertain significance using CRISPR/Cas9-gene editing, in silico approaches, and tailored in vitro assays.
WashU SOAR
Summer Opportunities for Achievement in Research
The WashU SOAR program is an immersive 9.5-week research program for undergraduate students interested in pursuing nephrology research.
The program is designed to provide interns with the opportunity to get hands-on experience in basic science research under the guidance of a mentor from the Division of Nephrology.
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