Grants
Family Investigation in Nephropathy and Diabetes (FIND) Consortium
Variations in specific genomic regions have been associated with a prevalence of diabetic nephropathy in certain populations such as African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans. Because families of patients with diabetic nephropathy have an increased preva-lence of renal disease and certain populations appear to be more suscepti-ble, delineating the genetics of diabetic nephropathy could lead to improved outcomes. To accomplish this, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the NIH, and the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities have established the Family Investigation of Nephropathy of Diabetes (FIND) Consortium. The overall goal is to identify genetic pathways that may be critical for the development of nephropathy and identify therapeutic strategies to prevent the onset or progression of nephropathy. Such data might help identify people at risk for the develop-ment of progressive renal disease. Wake Forest is the lead investigator in this multi-center investigation that also includes the University of California, Los Angeles; University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio; and Johns Hopkins University among others.