SUMMARY
The research of Andrew D. Rule, M.D., focuses on the epidemiology of chronic kidney disease. Dr. Rule creates and confirms new ways to study kidney form, structure and function in health and disease.
He also is interested in the epidemiology of kidney stones, including outlining the risk factors for kidney stones and the harm they can cause.
Focus areas
- Use imaging and artificial intelligence models to pinpoint and analyze kidney features that predict progressive chronic kidney disease.
- Determine how age, kidney function and chronic kidney disease risk factors relate to kidney anatomy. Dr. Rule uses CT angiogram and CT urogram to study the larger features of kidney anatomy and histology for better understanding at the micro level.
- Determine the long-term risks of harmful outcomes among living kidney donors. These include death, kidney failure, chronic kidney disease and high blood pressure. He compares living kidney donors who have had harmful outcomes with well-matched controls followed for six decades.
- Study methods to estimate or measure glomerular filtration rate. The goal is to improve medicine dosing algorithms and better understand the risk factors and outcomes of chronic kidney disease.
- Use historical data and track patients over time to describe the risk of chronic kidney disease symptoms returning in those who get kidney stones.
- Apply artificial intelligence models to abdominal CT images to measure the size, density and hardening of tissues and organs. The goal is to use these images to create biomarkers that can predict the risk of liver, kidney and ischemic vascular disease and measure tissue age.
- Provide general epidemiologic support to design and analyze studies for the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Mayo Clinic.
Significance to patient care
By studying kidney tumors and age-related changes in kidney donors, Dr. Rule is learning more about the structural and functional changes in the kidney with aging and early chronic kidney disease. This will help healthcare professionals pinpoint kidney disease earlier in people to prevent the disease from progressing to more-advanced stages where dialysis is needed.
The number of people with kidney stones has increased greatly over recent decades. Research is needed to learn why and find out who is at risk.
Each decade, about 35% of adults in the general community have a CT scan of the stomach area, according to one of Dr. Rule's recent research studies in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Yet results from these scans generally are limited to reports that measure specific features and data. Describing — rather than simply measuring — the characteristics of the scanned tissues and organs and comparing them with reference ranges will enrich the understanding of people's health.