Columbia’s medical school has established the David Koch Jr. Glomerular Kidney Center to improve diagnostics and treatments for glomerular diseases, rare conditions that hinder the kidneys’ ability to filter waste and excess fluids from the bloodstream.
Supported by a $20 million gift from the David Koch Jr. Foundation, the new center will advance clinical research, physician training, and patient care in this area, with a particular focus on finding effective therapies. The center will be codirected by Gerald Appel and Andrew Bomback ’03VPS, both Columbia nephrologists recognized for pioneering research on glomerular diseases.
“While significant progress has been made in diagnosing and treating glomerular diseases, there is still much work to be done,” says Appel.
The Columbia center will support collaborative research across the fields of epidemiology, biostatistics, structural biology, and genomics, with the hope of fueling new insights into disease mechanisms and potential treatments. It will also expand access to specialized care for patients with glomerular diseases, including those referred from around the globe, and enhance professional education by training new specialists through a dedicated fellowship program.
