Causes of chronic kidney disease in Uddanam, India

India - Factors of CKDu in Uddanam Study (India-FOCUS)

NIH-funded research Columbia University Health Sciences · NIH-11380483

Researchers will follow people with and without unexplained chronic kidney disease in the Uddanam region to look for environmental, family, and biological factors linked to the illness.

Quick facts

Grant typeU01 cooperative agreement
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionColumbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (New York, United States)
Project IDNIH-11380483 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

You would join a long-term study enrolling about 400 people with CKDu and 800 matched community members, with visits every nine months. At each visit you would answer questions about your health, work, and family, have a clinical exam, and give blood, urine, hair, and nail samples. The study will build family trees to study households with multiple affected members and will test samples for kidney function, injury markers, and environmental exposures. Some participants will have extra biomarker testing to help connect exposures to kidney damage.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Adults (21+) from the Uddanam area with unexplained chronic kidney disease, as well as matched local controls and family members, who can attend regular follow-up visits and provide biospecimens are ideal candidates.

Not a fit: People who live outside the Uddanam region or whose kidney disease is explained by known causes like long-standing diabetes or hypertension may not directly benefit from findings specific to CKDu in this area.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, the project could identify environmental or familial causes of CKDu that lead to better prevention and care in the Uddanam region.

How similar studies have performed: Prior field studies in Sri Lanka and Central America found links between occupation or exposures and CKDu but did not find a single cause, and this family-focused, longitudinal approach in Uddanam is a more comprehensive application of those methods.

Where this research is happening

New York, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.