# Arizona Technology Development and Clinical Education Program for Students in Kidney Health (ADVANCE Kidney Health)

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · 2021 · $140,400

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 To expand the kidney-related biomedical workforce and counter the increasing disparity between the growing
prevalence of renal disease and the disproportionate level of trainees, researchers and practitioners in
nephrology and kidney health, we developed the Arizona Technology Development and Clinical Education
Program for Students in Kidney Health (ADVANCE Kidney Health). ADVANCE Kidney Health is an education-
based, hands-on research, education and clinical experience that applies pillars of 1) science, medical and
engineering education; 2) training in innovation, entrepreneurialism and scientific translation; 3) experiential
learning, mentorship and clinical immersion; and 4) needs-based application and practical translation – all aimed
at producing motivated, trained and committed biomedical trainees interested in renal health and science to
advance the workforce and develop the new health-related therapies of the future. The program recruits
undergraduate students from across 15 departments within the College of Engineering at the University of
Arizona (UArizona) that include: Biomedical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical
Engineering and Chemical Engineering. ADVANCE Kidney Health is structured to provide trainees a medical
school experience for early-stage undergraduate learners geared to instill an understanding of renal anatomy
and kidney function. The core structure accesses a clinical experience to instill a motivation to pursue kidney-
related patient care and/or translational research and progresses to an already established innovation bootcamp
that culminates in an interdisciplinary capstone that has doubled in size over 10 years and accesses by more
than 450 captive engineering students. The program leverages new infrastructure in medical and engineering
education along with transdisciplinary programs aimed at innovation, technology development and
entrepreneurialism with 15 physician navigators in kidney health and 23 engineering and scientific mentors
spanning renal physiology, biomedical engineering, optical sciences and machine learning. The result is an
interrelated program that bridges renal medicine, engineering and product development to develop new pipelines
and on-ramps to impact career decisions and grow the future kidney-related workforce.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10230895
- **Project number:** 1R25DK128859-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
- **Principal Investigator:** Ara Arabyan
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $140,400
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-15 → 2026-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10230895

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10230895, Arizona Technology Development and Clinical Education Program for Students in Kidney Health (ADVANCE Kidney Health) (1R25DK128859-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10230895. Licensed CC0.

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