Pathogenesis of APOL1-associated Kidney Diseases:

Chronic Kidney Diseases (CKD) are common among African American patients. The excess risk for CKD in this population is largely explained by social determinants of health and by the presence of genetic variants in the APOL1 gene that are unique to African ancestral populations. The pathogenic mechanisms responsible for the genetic association remain poorly understood. Most importantly, the lack of consensus on the mechanisms by which APOL1 risk variants induce kidney diseases hinders the development of specific therapies.
Our major focus is to study glomerular and single-cell transcriptomes from kidneys and organ models to uncover transcriptional phenotypes associated with the presence of APOL1 kidney risk variants. Our goal is to extract gene signatures that could inform about the pathobiology of APOL1, and help to identify potential therapeutic agents.

Team Science:

I am an advocate for team science, and part of my research depends on collaborations with different teams of kidney investigators and NIH consortia. In particular, the Nephrotic Syndrome Study Network (NEPTUNE) and the Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP). I also organize the schedule for the Cleveland Kidney Center Renal Chalk Talks, which fosters collaborations among kidney researchers and physicians from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, MetroHealth and Cleveland State University. Finally, I serve at WikiPathways as a Community Editor in the field of Renal Genomics.

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