Dr. Dardik receives a 4-year award (2014-2017) from the Veteran’s Affairs (VA) MERIT award program, entitled “Molecular Regulation Of Fistula Adaptation For Dialysis Access.”
Approximately 30,000 veterans have end-stage renal disease and are under the care of the VA healthcare system. Of these patients, approximately 95%, or 28,500, are on hemodialysis. Nationally, only 58% of veterans are dialyzed with an arteriovenous fistula (AVF), with 13% using an arteriovenous graft and the rest using catheters. Reduced AVF usage in the VA system increases costs of care dramatically, estimated to be in the millions of dollars. This proposal seeks to improve our understanding of AVF maturation, increasing the number of AVF in clinical use, preventing the excess mortality, morbidity, and costs of graft and catheter usage. We hope to save our veterans the mortality and morbidity of excess graft and catheter usage, and save the VA and the American government - and taxpayers - millions of dollars.
Submitted by Melanie Kresta on June 16, 2014