# Johns Hopkins Summer UndergraduateProgram in Kidney Science

> **NIH NIH R25** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $137,898

## Abstract

Kidney disease represents a significant growing threat to public health. Unfortunately, efforts to find effective
prevention strategies and innovative new treatments have been hampered by a paucity of kidney disease
researchers. Traditional workforce pipelines are drying up, and low awareness of kidney disease has made it
difficult to attract talented scientists outside of nephrology and medicine from other spheres of science, despite
major technological and conceptual advances in the kidney science field. We propose a new program to address
this need, focusing nationally on a diverse pool of talented undergraduate students broadly interested in
biomedical sciences and biomedical engineering. This new program, Johns Hopkins Summer Undergraduate
Program in Kidney Science (SUPerKS), will leverage the unique resources of a preeminent university to provide
trainees with innovative research opportunities, mentoring by leaders and rising stars in the field, exciting didactic
and problem-based training experiences, clinical immersion, intellectual enrichment activities, team-building and
social events over the summer. SUPerKS will operate within the Kidney Physiology and Precision Medicine
Center, which brings together a diverse, highly dynamic group of investigators from clinical and basic science
departments within the JHU Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Engineering to work on kidney science
challenges. Other innovations include a kidney-focused curriculum, mentorship training, and an institutionally
funded administrative office that is devoted to supporting summer internship programs with special emphasis on
the recruitment of under-represented minority candidates and those from disadvantaged economic backgrounds.
At the end of the training cycle, the trainees and their projects will be celebrated in a summer programs event at
Johns Hopkins. Students will also travel to present their work and meet participants in the other programs funded
by this mechanism. SUPerKS trainees will exit the program with an appreciation for the value of research,
improved interpersonal-communication skills, and a more sophisticated understanding and appreciation of the
kidney. After 5 years of operation, the SUPerKS program should train 40 diverse and talented students advancing
toward careers in the biomedical sciences, especially in the kidney science fields.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10914512
- **Project number:** 1R25DK139778-01
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Stephen Martin Sozio
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $137,898
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-04-01 → 2029-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10914512

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10914512, Johns Hopkins Summer UndergraduateProgram in Kidney Science (1R25DK139778-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10914512. Licensed CC0.

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