# Washington University Chronic KidneyDisease National Resource Center

> **NIH NIH U54** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $904,769

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract: Overall Component
The Washington University Chronic Kidney Disease National Resource Center is focused on the significant
problem of chronic kidney disease (CKD), which affects almost 15% of the US population and carries
significant morbidity and mortality. Several scientific advances have the promise to accelerate CKD research,
but many of these advances are not accessible to the kidney research community due to limited expertise
and/or the need for expensive equipment. Thus, this NRC will address the fundamental challenge of providing
better access to cutting-edge techniques in single cell omics, genetics, and metabolism to the kidney research
community to facilitate advances in CKD research. Dr. Ben Humphreys is the overall program director, and this
Center will consist of four Cores: an Administrative Core, two Biomedical Resource Cores, and a Resource
Development Core. The Administrative Core will oversee distribution of funds across the Cores, communicate
with the National O’Brien Consortium, manage the Summer Student Enrichment Program, and promote the
involvement of early stage investigators and a diverse workforce. The Variant Validation Core, one of the
Biomedical Resource Cores, investigates the pathogenicity of genetic variants of uncertain significance using
CRISPR/Cas9-gene editing, in silico approaches, and tailored in vitro assays. The Metabolism Core, the other
Biomedical Resource Core, provides consultation for users and access to a number of metabolic assays to
interrogate changes in kidney metabolism relevant to CKD. These assays include Seahorse bioflux analysis,
radioactive substrate oxidation assays of tissue ex vivo, untargeted metabolomics, and stable isotope tracer
studies. The Metabolism Core will also work with the O’Brien Consortium to provide validated protocols for
assays commonly performed (e.g. Seahorse assays on primary cells) and provide hands’ on training using
these protocols. The Single Cell Omics Research Evolution (SCORE) Core is the Resource Development
Core, which develops protocols and bioinformatics pipelines for cutting-edge techniques like split pool
barcoding for single nuclei multi-omics and high resolution in-situ sequencing-based spatially resolved
transcriptomics. All four Cores will work together and with the network of O’Brien National Resource Centers to
make scientific advancements more accessible to the kidney research community with particular emphasis on
junior investigators and development of a diverse biomedical workforce.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10915649
- **Project number:** 5U54DK137332-02
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** BENJAMIN D. HUMPHREYS
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $904,769
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10915649

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10915649, Washington University Chronic KidneyDisease National Resource Center (5U54DK137332-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10915649. Licensed CC0.

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