Kidney Transplantation

Drs. Menon and Cantley share a strong interest in understanding the role of tubular cell and immune cell interactions in the setting of kidney transplantation, and how these can predict both short- and long-term outcomes. Kidney fibrosis or chronic allograft injury (CAI) is the final common pathway for the failure of transplanted kidneys in the modern era. Immune and non-immune events lead to CAI. Collaborative studies from our group have previously identified genetic, transcriptomic, urine, and serum biomarkers that predict the risk of CAI. We use innovative murine models to obtain mechanistic insight into CAI. Dr. Cantley pioneered the use of imaging mass cytometry to identify immune cell-tubular cell interactions in both the tubular and immune response following kidney transplantation. Dr. Menon’s lab has identified novel non-HLA based loci and mismatches that also predispose to CAI. These studies aim to improve donor kidney utilization, biomarker development, risk-stratification, and informing immune suppressive regimen selection, as well as novel therapeutics.