Newswise — The Halpin Foundation and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) proudly announce the recipient of the Halpin Foundation-ASN Research Grant for 2006, which was created to provide funding for young faculty to foster evolution to an independent research career by providing transition funding toward successful application for an RO1 grant.
This year's recipient is Andrew W. Minto, Jr., MVM, PhD, CBiol. Dr. Minto, a Research Associate at the University of Chicago's Biological Sciences Division in the Department of Medicine, will focus his research on the pathogenesis of membranous nephropathy (MN). The first to develop a mouse model that parallels human MN, Dr. Minto hopes to understand the pathogenesis of MN, using experimental models in informative mouse strains and cell culture systems.
The necessity to gain insight into a kidney disease that causes loss of protein in the urine and a progressive decline in renal function initially partnered The Halpin Foundation with The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and led to the creation of a fund to study membranous nephropathy in 2004.
The Halpin Foundation dedicated itself to the study of this important kidney disease after the Halpins' 14-year-old son was diagnosed with it in 1989. The foundation is committed to obtaining answers to questions that plague the medical community, including whether there is a hereditary predisposition to the disease. In addition to enabling researchers to better understand this disease, The Halpin Foundation is devoted to raising awareness of the disease in the scientific and lay communities.
"Unfortunately, there are many unanswered questions surrounding membranous nephropathy, and we are grateful to The Halpin Foundation for helping us obtain crucial information about this disease," said ASN's President Thomas D. DuBose Jr, MD, FASN.
In a concerted effort to highlight research advances and stimulate investigations regarding membranous nephropathy, the ASN will also sponsor a session devoted to various aspects of the disease during its annual fall meeting, Renal Week 2006. This session will address four key topics presented by distinguished experts in Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy, including: "Overview: The Vulnerable Population," by Daniel C. Cattran, MD, "What Cytotoxic Drugs to Use?" by Jack F. Wetzels, MD, "The Role of Calcineurin Inhibitors," by Efstathios Alexopoulos, MD, and "New Immunosuppressives and Their Relationship to Pathophysiology," by Fernando C. Fervenza, MD, PhD, FASN. Joan Halpin, President of the Halpin Foundation, is hopeful this symposium will "attract a diverse audience that will be encouraged to devote time and intellect to the consideration of the pathogenesis and therapy for this disorder."
The ASN is a not-for-profit organization of 9,500 physicians and scientists dedicated to the study of nephrology and committed to providing a forum for the promulgation of information regarding the latest research and clinical findings on kidney diseases. ASN's Renal Week 2006, the largest nephrology meeting of its kind, will provide a forum for more than 13,000 nephrologists to discuss the latest findings in renal research and engage in educational sessions relating advances in the care of patients with kidney and related disorders from November 14-19 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA.
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