$500,000 Grant To Help In Study Of Kidney Disease

BUFFALO, NY -- Total Renal Care, Inc. (TRC) has donated $500,000 to the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to establish the Nephrology Research Endowment Fund to partner with UB in the battle against kidney disease.

Anxious to get the 10-year research partnership started rather than waiting for the usual one-year period that allows an endowment investment to generate interest, TRC donated an additional $50,000 to be used immediately.

Robert A. Klocke, M.D., professor and chair of the UB Department of Medicine, said the grant "provides a solid base for us to continue and even to expand our ongoing research in renal disease."

Brian M. Murray, M.D., UB associate professor of medicine, is one of two researchers to receive some of the initial grant dollars. "It's wonderful because it serves as seed money for developing further grant applications for national research dollars, and it's always toughest to get those first dollars to develop an area of research."

Murray said he will study the role of growth factors in the progression of kidney disease, differentiating between those growth factors that are beneficial and those that are toxic. "Of course," Murray added, "the long-term hope for all involved, whether researcher or donor, is that this research will eventually lead to a treatment that would halt, or at least delay, kidney disease."

Murray also serves on the advisory board developed by TRC and comprised of nephrology experts from across the country whose institutions, like UB, receive grants from the company. This board meets twice a year to review research and consider trends and directions in the treatment of kidney disease.

Stan M. Lindenfeld, M.D., senior vice president and the chief medical officer of TRC said: "We are proud to support the endeavors of our partner institutions like UB, which was chosen because of the strength of its academic program and its excellent research.

"Although our primary business is providing the highest-quality, end-stage renal care to patients," Lindenfeld added, "our long-range goals include a desire to stimulate research and advances in the treatment of kidney disease."

Rocco C. Venuto, M.D., professor of medicine and the second UB researcher who received TRC grant money this year, called it a win-win situation. "TRC gains quality- level research in its area of interest and we receive a grant that can be used to continue valuable basic-science research."

Venuto said the grant will help him with his collaborative, on-going research in the area of blood-pressure control during pregnancy, a topic he has been researching for nearly 25 years. "If we can understand the role of the kidney in controlling blood pressure," Venuto explained, "then we can become better at avoiding hypertension and perhaps saving lives of pregnant women and preventing premature births."

Total Renal Care Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Torrance, Calif., is a provider of integrated dialysis services for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure, also known as end-stage renal disease.

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