UAB Childhood Cystic Kidney Disease Bioengineering Resource

UAB Childhood Cystic Kidney Disease Center (UAB-CCKDC) - Bioengineering Resource

NIH-funded research University of Alabama at Birmingham · NIH-11231584

Building and sharing better animal and human cell models of childhood polycystic kidney disease so researchers can learn what causes cysts and test new treatments.

Quick facts

Grant typeNIH-funded research
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Birmingham, United States)
Project IDNIH-11231584 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

This project creates and distributes improved lab and animal models of polycystic kidney disease, including larger conditional mutant rat models, mice, and human iPS cell–derived kidney organoids. Researchers will use CRISPR/Cas9 with tetracycline control to make and study gene changes and will insert Halo/Snap tags into PKD proteins to watch them work in living cells. A Flp-In system in human iPS cells will let scientists add patient genes or variants efficiently to study their effects. These resources are shared with the PKD research community to enable cross-species comparisons and to help explain how patient-specific variants lead to cyst formation.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: People with polycystic kidney disease and families willing to provide genetic samples or donate cells for iPS line development are the most relevant to this effort.

Not a fit: If you do not have PKD or cannot provide samples, this grant is unlikely to offer direct or immediate treatment benefits to you.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this work could speed up discoveries about how PKD gene changes cause cysts and help researchers develop better treatments for childhood PKD.

How similar studies have performed: Related animal and cell model approaches have advanced PKD research before, but producing larger rat models and tagged human iPS-derived organoids represents a newer and less-tested expansion of those methods.

Where this research is happening

Birmingham, 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.