INSIGHTS
The Weekly Update of the Kidney & Urology Foundation of America, Inc.
Volume 1, No. 6
Ira Greifer, MD, President
March 28, 2003
www.kidneyurology.org
Shirley Baer, Executive Director
NEW MEDICAL CENTERS JOIN DAILY NEWS/KUFA PROSTATE SCREENING PROGRAM
Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx, Hackensack Medical Center in New Jersey, and North Shore
Medical Center in Long Island have joined this June’s Prostate Awareness and Screening Program,
being sponsored by the New York Daily News and the Kidney & Urology Foundation of America, Inc.
(KUFA). The screening program, the largest of its kind in the nation, has received critical acclaim for
raising the bar on public awareness of prostate cancer. This year’s program, from June 15 th to June 22nd,
will seek to screen more than 50,000 men at more than 78 screening sites. KUFA is providing grants to
the participating medical centers, in addition to patient support and resource materials for the event.
KUFA SPONSORS SIGNIFICANT RESEARCH IN PEDIATRIC NEPHROLOGY AT YALE
Dr. Michael Riordan of the Department of Pediatrics at Yale University has been awarded a research
fellowship in pediatrics by the Kidney & Urology Foundation of America, Inc., to study the role of
protein chaperones in the modulation of cellular injury. The fellowship is sponsored by Dr. Norman J.
Siegel, Professor, Pediatrics and Medicine, and Director of Pediatric Nephrology at Yale University.
Dr. Riordan will study two proteins, HSP-70 and HSP-25, part of a larger family of protein chaperones
that are induced by cell injury. The outcome of the study is produce new therapies to prevent and/or treat
cellular injuries to inhibit the progression of end stage renal disease (ESRD).
GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH FOLLOWS NEW SUB-CLASSIFICATIONS FOR FSGS
New areas of research have been identified, following a consensus meeting to redefine the pathologic
classifications of Focal Segmental Glomerular Sclerosis (FSGS). The meeting was held at Columbia
University in 2000, under the leadership of Dr. Vivette D’Agati, Professor of Pathology and Director of
Renal Pathology at Columbia University and sponsored by the Kidney & Urology Foundation of
America. In attendance were internationally recognized nephro-pathologists, including Dr. D’Agati, Dr.
Agnes Fogo, Dr. J. Charles Jennette, and Dr. Jan Bruijn. Since the meeting, the group has validated its
findings by applying them to cases of FSGS at their respective medical centers. The new classification
comprises five categories of FSGS, including SSGS, not otherwise specified, Perihilar Variant, TIP
Variant, Cellular Variant, and Collapsing Variant. A position paper outlining the re-classification of
FSGS is pending publication in a major journal of nephrology.
Continuing the initiative, KUFA has awarded Dr. Kirk Foster a research fellowship, sponsored by Dr.
D’Agati, to study all of the different variants of FSGS at the Department of Renal Pathology at
Columbia University. The study will focus on gene expression analysis of laser captured glomeruli.
FSGS is one of the most common and important glomerular diseases leading to end stage renal disease.
Dr. Foster will study the patterns of gene expression in the renal biopsies of patients with FSGS. This
experimental approach should yield valuable information about the cellular causes of disease and how
they influence prognosis.
VISIT KUFA ONLINE AT WWW.KIDNEYUROLOGY.ORG OR CALL 1-800-633-6628.