Overview

The Mayo Clinic Robert M. and Billie Kelley Pirnie Translational Polycystic Kidney Disease Center focuses on translating basic scientific findings into new and better treatments for people with polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

In the past two decades, researchers at Mayo Clinic and around the world have made great strides in understanding the fundamental genetic and biological mechanisms that contribute to the etiology and pathogenesis of polycystic kidney disease.

The Mayo Clinic Pirnie Translational Polycystic Kidney Disease Center has played a central role in this rich history and continues to forge new ground in PKD research. The center extends Mayo Clinic's strong tradition of PKD-related basic, translational and clinical research. Center investigators have made many novel and important contributions to the understanding and characterization of polycystic kidney disease. These findings have moved into preclinical and clinical trials, with the first therapy now available.

The center's research is collaborative and multidisciplinary. PKD investigators work alongside Mayo Clinic clinicians and scientists with expertise in such fields as imaging, physiology, gastroenterology, molecular biology and genomics.

This team approach means that promising therapies move more quickly from the lab through clinical trials and into clinical practice to benefit people with PKD and related disorders — conditions that can have devastating and life-threatening complications. The center's research focus is on the type of PKD called autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), which mainly affects adults.

Core services

The center has three core facilities that provide both Mayo Clinic investigators and external investigators with access to state-of-the-art technical resources and services. These cores help with understanding the genetic basis of disease, monitoring disease progression more accurately and improving prognostics. They also provide researchers with model systems to explore disease pathogenesis and conduct preclinical testing.

The center's efforts are further enhanced by the availability of significant Mayo Clinic resources, including the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCaTS) and many institutional core resources.

Center directors

Peter C. Harris, Ph.D., is the director of the Mayo Clinic Pirnie Translational Polycystic Kidney Disease Center. Dr. Harris is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and a professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Harris also is principal investigator of the Polycystic Kidney Disease Discovery Laboratory, where he investigates molecular events associated with tubule formation with a focus on polycystic kidney disease and related conditions.

Neera K. Dahl, M.D., Ph.D., is an associate director of the center. Dr. Dahl is a nephrologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and a professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Dr. Dahl's clinical and research activity focuses on diagnosing and treating cystic kidney disease, particularly ADPKD. She also is the director of the PKD Foundation-designated Mayo Clinic Clinical PKD Center of Excellence. She is a member of the PKD Foundation Scientific Advisory Board.

Xiaogang Li, Ph.D., is an associate director of the center. Dr. Li is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and a professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Li's research includes studying the crosstalk of epigenetics and inflammation in PKD, ciliopathies and cancer, and the molecular mechanisms associated with cyst formation. His research laboratory focuses on epigenetics, TNF-alpha and inflammatory signaling, and senescence in PKD, among other mechanisms.

Funding

The Mayo Clinic Robert M. and Billie Kelley Pirnie Translational Polycystic Kidney Disease Center was established in 2010. The center is funded by a generous gift from Robert M. and Billie Kelley Pirnie and a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Discovery Award from the U.S. Department of Defense.