O'Brien Center for Acute Kidney Injury Research: Accelerating Kidney Disease Science
Official title: UAB-UCSD O'Brien Center for Acute Kidney Injury Research
Funded at University of Alabama at Birmingham · NIH-11395319 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A center-led effort to provide expert rodent models and kidney physiology tools to researchers studying acute kidney injury, helping translate findings toward prevention and treatment.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Alabama at Birmingham NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Birmingham, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2023 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $872,905 |
| NIH project number | 5U54DK137307-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11395319 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Researchers and clinical teams working on AKI who need access to specialized rodent models and renal physiology expertise.
✕Less likely to help
Direct patient benefit may be limited to future treatments; current participants are researchers using animal models and lab techniques.
What this research studies
This grant supports a Pre-Clinical Core that gives researchers access to specialized animal models and renal physiology techniques for AKI, including ischemia/reperfusion injury, sepsis, and transplantation scenarios. It offers training, facilities, and expertise to study whole-kidney and single-nephron function, micropuncture, GFR measurement, tubular fluid analysis, renal hemodynamics, and kidney metabolism in rodents. By sharing these resources within the O’Brien Kidney Consortium, it aims to remove barriers to using relevant animal models and to accelerate preclinical discoveries relevant to AKI. The center is hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham under the leadership of Paul W. Sanders, and runs through mid-2028 with a focus on reproducible, translatable kidney research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients with acute kidney injury could benefit from faster development of preventive and therapeutic approaches informed by robust animal models and renal physiology data.
How similar studies have gone: Previous AKI research has benefited from core facilities that enable standardized animal models and advanced renal physiology measurements.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sanders, Paul W. — University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Study coordinator: Sanders, Paul W.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
SEAK Alliance: Improving Care for AKI Patients in the Southeast
A national, patient-centered effort to improve post-hospital care for people who had acute kidney injury in the Southeast.
-
AKI-related delirium after heart surgery
This grant funds research to understand why some people develop delirium after heart surgery when they also have acute kidney injury.
-
Better ways to identify types of sudden kidney injury in U.S. Veterans
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-
Neuroimmune control of kidney injury using noninvasive ultrasound
A new approach uses targeted ultrasound to gently stimulate nerves and immune signals to help the kidney recover after injury.
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Structure-based approach to prevent kidney injury from polymyxin use
Aims to block how polymyxin damages the kidney so it can be used more safely to treat hard-to-kill infections.
-
Using smart computer predictions to prevent kidney injury after heart surgery
A machine-learning approach uses routinely collected hospital data to predict who might develop acute kidney injury after heart surgery, so clinicians can act early.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.