$6M Gift for Kidney Institute

Dialysis Clinic gives money to UNM to help build research center

The nation’s largest nonprofit dialysis firm this week announced a $6 million gift to the University of New Mexico to help build a kidney research institute aimed at curbing end-stage renal disease.

The gift from Dialysis Clinic Inc., a Nashville, Tenn.-based nonprofit, will provide seed money for research focused on prevention and treatment strategies appropriate for New Mexico, a UNM physician said.

“The hope is that we can find strategies that are focused on New Mexico’s unique populations to prevent the onset of kidney disease,” said Dr. Pope Moseley, chairman of internal medicine at UNM Health Sciences Center.

Within the next month, UNM will launch a nationwide search for a prominent researcher in kidney disease to direct the institute, he said. UNM this year hired Dr. Mark Unruh to head its division of nephrology. Moseley said he doesn’t know how many researchers will ultimately staff the new institute.

“What we’re trying to do is develop a program that can really focus on the detection and prevention of kidney disease to avoid some of the long-term complications” such as dialysis and kidney transplants, he said.

More than 2,700 New Mexicans with end-stage renal disease live on dialysis, which artificially removes waste from the blood, according to the End-Stage Renal Disease Network.

Diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Other

contributing factors include high blood pressure, obesity and family history.

“We know that strategies that work in Boston don’t necessarily work in New Mexico,” Moseley said.

Dialysis Clinic Inc. operates about 200 clinics in 27 states, including 11 in New Mexico.

UNM for years has provided data management and other research services for Dialysis Clinic, Moseley said.

“They recognize the importance of preventing kidney disease so we can try to minimize the impact of this really horrible and difficult disease on New Mexico,” he said of the nonprofit.