The following investigators are
currently involved in the PKD Research Group at the University of Colorado
Health Sciences Center.
PKD Project
Director; PKD Study of Children;
PKD Genetic Study;
PKD Apoptosis Study;
PKD Liver Study; HALT
PKD Study; PKD Administration and
Data Management Section;
PKD Advisory Board
PKD Project Director
Robert W. Schrier, M.D., is the Project Director for the PKD Research
Group. He supervises the overall scientific direction of the PKD projects. He earned his medical degree at Indiana University School of Medicine.
Dr. Schrier served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine for
over 25 years and was also Head of the Division of Renal Diseases and
Hypertension for 20 years at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr.
Schrier is a nephrologist, educator, and research investigator of international
renown. He is past President of the National Kidney Foundation, American Society
of Nephrology, Association of American Physicians, and the International Society
of Nephrology. He is active in many panels, study sections, and task forces in
the National Institutes of Health. His publications include over 300 original
articles, over 450 chapters, monographs, symposia articles, review articles and
editorials, as well as the editorship of 45 books. He was recently named one of
the Best Physicians in the United States by US News and World Report. He has been involved in the PKD Research Group
since it began in 1985.
To Top of Page
PKD Study of Children
Robert W. Schrier, M.D., is Principal Investigator for this project. See
PKD Project Director.
Melissa A. Cadnapaphornchai, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and
Medicine, is Co-Investigator for the PKD Study of Children. She oversees the care of all
children enrolled in this study. She earned her medical degree at the University
of Michigan Medical School. She completed a residency in Pediatrics and advanced
training (Fellowship) in Pediatric Nephrology at the University of Colorado
Health Sciences Center. She is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in
Clinical Science at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. She also
sees children with kidney disorders at The Kidney Center at The Children’s
Hospital of Denver.
Sandy Busse Nunley, R.N., C.P.N.P., is the study coordinator for this
project. She assists with monitoring blood pressures and medications and
the annual hospital physical exam. Sandy received her Bachelor of Nursing
and pediatric nurse practitioner training at Texas Women's University in Dallas,
Texas. She has extensive experience in a variety of pediatric settings for
over 30 years.
Diana M. George is the Research Assistant for this project responsible
for scheduling national and local travel, accommodations, hospital admission and
patient imaging studies. She is also responsible for ordering medication and
other medical and office supplies.
John D. Strain, M.D., Professor of Radiology, Chief of the Division of
Pediatric Radiology, reviews all the ultrasounds and magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) studies of the children in this project. He earned his medical degree at
the University of Colorado Medical Center. He completed a residency in Radiology
and advanced training (Fellowship) in Pediatric Radiology at the University of
Colorado Health Sciences Center. He has been directing the imaging studies in
children for the PKD Research Group since 1991.
Curt DeGroff, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatric Cardiology, reviews
all the echocardiogram studies (imaging studies of the heart) of the children in
this project. He earned his medical degree at the State University of New York.
He completed a residency in Pediatrics and advanced training (Fellowship) in
Pediatric Cardiology at the Oregon Health Sciences Center.
Charles A. Dinarello, M.D., Professor of Medicine, analyzes the cytokine
studies being conducted in this project. He earned his medical degree at Yale
University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Medicine at
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and advanced training at the National
Institutes of Health.
Patricia A. Gabow, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Manager (CEO) and
Medical Director-Denver Health & Hospital Authority, served as Project Director
for the PKD Research Group from 1985-1999 and now serves as Consultant for this
project that she designed. She earned her medical degree at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Internal
Medicine at Harbor General Hospital and advanced training (Fellowship) in
Acute/Chronic Dialysis at San Francisco General Hospital and the University of
Pennsylvania Hospital.
To Top of Page
PKD Genetic Study
Pamela R. Fain, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, is the Principal
Investigator for the PKD Genetic Study. She oversees the organization and implementation
of the project. She earned her Ph.D. in Biology and Genetics at
the University of Colorado at Boulder and completed advanced training
(Postdoctoral Fellowship) at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
Matthew R.G. Taylor, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director
of Adult Clinical Genetics, is Co-Investigator for this project. He assists in
collecting data, providing feedback to family members, screening for known PKD1
mutations, and performing analyses of genotype-phenotype correlations. He earned his
medical degree at the University of Southern California. He completed
residencies in both Internal Medicine and Clinical Genetics and advanced
training (Fellowship) in Genetics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences
Center. He is also currently enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Clinical Science
at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
Lyn Tison, R.N., NP-C, Professional Research Assistant, is the Study
Coordinator for this project. She is responsible for gathering family
information and DNA samples from study families. She received her Master’s
Degree in Nursing from the University of California at San Francisco and
obtained her post graduate certificate as a nurse practitioner from Beth El
College of Nursing in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She has been a research nurse
with the PKD Research Group since 1997.
Berenice Gitomer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, performs the
mutation screening for the Genetic Study. She earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry
at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, as well as completing her advanced
training (Postdoctoral Fellowship), also at Trinity College. She will be taking
over the leadership of this section in 2006.
Brian Passerella, B.S., Laboratory Research Assistant, assists Drs. Fain
and Gitomer in the laboratory analysis in this study. He received his Bachelor’s
Degree in Biology from Metropolitan State College in Denver.
Katherine Gowan, B.S., performs various computerized analyses on the PKD
genotypic data. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Texas
Christian University.
Michael Manco-Johnson, M.D., Professor of Radiology, Medicine, Obstetrics
and Gynecology, and Chairman, Department of Radiology, reviews the imaging studies for the Genetic
Study. Dr. Manco-Johnson has been a part of the PKD Research Group at the
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center since it began in 1985. He earned
his medical degree at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He
completed his residency in Diagnostic Radiology and advanced training
(Fellowship) at Duke University Medical Center.
William J. Kimberling, Ph.D., Professor of Otolaryngology & Pathology at
Creighton University School of Medicine and Director for the Center for
Hereditary Communication Disorders at Boystown National Research Hospital in
Omaha, Nebraska, served as Principal Investigator for the Genetic Study for
the PKD Research Group from 1985-2000 and now serves as Consultant for this
project. He earned his Ph.D. in Medical Genetics at Indiana University and
completed advanced training (Postdoctoral Fellowship) in Medical Genetics at the
University of Oregon in Portland.
To Top of Page
PKD Apoptosis Study
Charles L. Edelstein, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, is the
Principal Investigator for the PKD Apoptosis Study. He is responsible for the overall
design and direction of the project, and is involved in all aspects of the work,
including carrying out the experiments and interpreting the results. He earned his medical degree at the
University of Cape Town Medical School, Cape Town, South Africa and completed
advanced training (Fellowship) in Renal Medicine at the University of Colorado
Health Sciences Center. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Stellenbosch,
South Africa. He has been an investigator with the PKD Research Group since
1996.
Robert W. Schrier, M.D., is Co-Investigator for this project. See
PKD Project Director.
Yunxia Tao, Ph.D, Instructor, is Co-Investigator for this
project. She performs a large portion of the experiments and works in close
collaboration with Dr. Edelstein on all aspects of the project. She earned her Ph.D. in Physiology from North Carolina State University
and completed advanced training (Postdoctoral Fellowship) in Molecular Genetics
at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina. In 2005 she received
her own grant from the National Institutes of Health to study PKD.
Dong Jun Kim, B.S., is a laboratory Research Assistant who works for Dr. Charles Edelstein on
this project. He is involved with the
maintenance of mice/rat models of PKD and experiments on the mice and rats. He graduated in 2000 from
the University of Denver with a B.S. in Biology and Psychology. He will be
entering medical school In August, 2005.
J. John Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Immunology and Medicine, serves
as Consultant for this project. He earned his Ph.D. in Immunochemistry and his
medical degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He completed advanced
training (Fellowship) at the University of Colorado Medical School and the
University College in London. Dr. Cohen currently
conducts research on biochemical mechanisms of apoptosis in cells of the immune
system and has 20 years of experience in the study of apoptosis.
Raphael A. Nemenoff, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, serves as Consultant
for this project. He earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University and completed
advanced training (Postdoctoral Fellowship) in Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology at Harvard University in Massachusetts.
Stefan Somlo, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Genetics at Yale
University School of Medicine and Director of the Yale Polycystic Kidney Disease
Program, serves as Collaborator for this project. He earned his medical degree
at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University and completed
advanced training (Fellowship) in Nephrology at Yale University School of
Medicine in Connecticut.
To Top of Page
PKD Liver Study
Brian R. Doctor, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, is
the Principal Investigator for this project. He directs the overall strategy and
design of the studies and interpretation of the results. He also oversees all phases of the project. He earned his Ph.D. in Physiology and Cell
Biology at Duke University in North Carolina.
John Gregory Fitz, M.D., formerly the Principal Investigator for the
Liver Study, has moved to Houston, Texas. He continues to assist with the
study as a consultant for Dr. Doctor. He earned his medical degree at Duke University and completed advanced
training (Fellowship) in Gastroenterology & Hepatology at the University of
California at San Francisco.
Kimberly K. Leslie, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Chief of
the Division of Basic Reproductive Science, serves as Consultant for this
project. She earned her medical degree at the University of Texas Southwestern
and completed advanced training (Fellowship) in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at
Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
To Top of Page
HALT PKD Study
Robert W. Schrier, M.D., is Principal Investigator for this project. See
PKD Project Director.
Catherine Kelleher (Cass), M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, is Co-Investigator for
the HALT PKD Study. She
will be responsible for the supervision of all patient studies and clinical data
collection, and will review laboratory values and dose adjustment of medication.
She will also speak to subjects if there are any concerns or clinical problems.
She earned her medical degree from the University of Washington School of
Medicine. She completed a residency in Internal medicine at Johns Hopkins
Hospital in Baltimore and received advanced training (Fellowship) in Nephrology,
Geriatrics and Genetics at Harvard Medical School.
To Top of Page
PKD Administration
and Data Management Section
Robert W. Schrier, M.D., is Head of this Section. See
PKD Project Director.
Kim McFann, Ph.D., is the senior
biostatistician for the PKD Research Group.
Ann M. Johnson, M.S., Senior Professional Research Assistant, is the
biostatistician and data manager for the PKD Research Group. She analyzes the
research data that are collected in the research projects and assists in the
preparation of articles being submitted to medical journals regarding the
research. She also is in charge of the PKD database where research information
is collected and maintained. She earned her M.S. in Biometrics at the University
of Colorado. Ms. Johnson has served as biostatistician and data manager for the
PKD Research Group since 1987 and has been co-author on over 80 publications on PKD.
Linda M. Perkins, B.S., is the Administrator for the PKD Research Group.
She is responsible for administrative and financial management, expenditures of
the research funds and assistance with preparation of grant proposals. She has
served as Administrator for the PKD Research Group since the study began in
1985.
Craig Edelstein is the research assistant for the PKD Research Group.
Craig recently received his B.S. in Information Systems from the University of Colorado in
Boulder. For the past 6 years he has assisted with computer questions and was
instrumental in setting up this website. He will be starting his new career in
Kansas City in August 2005.
To Top of Page
PKD Advisory Board
Anna E. Baron, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Head of the Biometrics
Section of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics, earned her
Ph.D. at the University of Texas School of Public Health.
Thomas Berl, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of
Renal Diseases and Hypertension, earned his medical degree at New York
University School of Medicine.
Robert H. Eckel, M.D., Professor of Physiology and Biophysics and
Director of the Adult General Clinical Research Center, earned his medical
degree at the University of Cincinnati.
Douglas M. Ford, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, earned his
medical degree at the University of Oklahoma Medical School. He completed his
residency in Pediatrics also at the University of Oklahoma Medical School, and
completed his advanced training (Fellowship) in Pediatric Nephrology at the University of Colorado
Health Sciences Center.
Jared J. Grantham, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry, Molecular
Biology, and the University Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas
School of Medicine, earned his medical degree at Kansas University Medical
Center. He is an internationally recognized expert on PKD.
Ronald J. Sokol, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Vice Chair of Clinical
Research, and Program Director of
the Pediatric General Clinical Research Center, earned his medical degree at the
University of Chicago.
Vicente E. Torres, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic,
earned his medical degree at the University of Barcelona. He has received many
honors, awards, and academic appointments and serves on many advisory committees
and editorial boards. He is an internationally recognized expert on PKD.
Mark Yarborough, Ph.D., Humanities and Law Director of the Program in
Health Care, earned his Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee.
To Top of Page
Revised:
07/28/05.
