The UAB Nephrology Research and Training Center (NRTC) supports interdisciplinary kidney research across basic, clinical, and translational science.
Areas of focus include hypertension, diabetic nephropathy, kidney transplantation, and inherited renal diseases. The center offers advanced research infrastructure, such as electrophysiology and imaging labs, and provides training for graduate students, postdocs, and clinical fellows. To foster innovation, the NRTC and UAB offer internal funding opportunities, including pilot grants and institutional awards. These help early-career investigators generate preliminary data and secure external research funding, often supported by endowments or strategic initiative funds.
Priya Nagar MD Pilots Innovation Awards
Priya Nagar, M.D. was a dedicated physician who overcame chronic kidney disease from a young age, diagnosed at 9 and undergoing a kidney transplant at 14, to eventually practice as a hospitalist before passing away in 2017 from a rare lymphoma. In her memory, her family established the Priya Nagar, M.D. Foundation, which funds the Pilot and Innovation Awards to support groundbreaking kidney disease research and medical device development. These awards, primarily given through the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), aim to spark early-stage projects and innovations that can lead to larger grants and transformative treatments for CKD and related conditions, continuing Nagar’s legacy of resilience, compassion, and advancing medicine.
2024 innovation awards funded:
Sonja Fargue, M.D. (Urology) led a project focused on developing a novel biomarker and diagnostic tool for patients who form calcium oxalate kidney stones. The team generated strong supporting data and has since filed a patent for their discovery.
David Askenazi, M.D., MPH (Pediatric Nephrology) developed the prototype for the Fluid Aviator, a device designed to help clinicians more effectively assess and manage fluid status in critically ill infants in the ICU/NICU. The team successfully reached their development goals and also filed a patent for their innovation. Both investigators expressed deep gratitude to the Priya Nagar, M.D. Foundation for supporting their research and vision.
2025 innovation awards funded:
Michal Mrug, M.D. (Medicine, Nephrology) received an award to support preclinical studies evaluating the therapeutic potential of prioritized drug candidates for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), identified through a computational approach.
Javier Neyra, M.D., MSCS, and Jin Chen, M.D., Ph.D. (Medicine, Nephrology) led a collaborative project with Tiago Colicchio, Ph.D. (DBIDS) and Dialytix, LLC (a UAB startup founded by CEO Ruben Raposo) to apply AI and machine learning to electronic medical records and CRRT device data. The goal was to develop a clinical decision support system to improve CRRT processes and outcomes (SMART-CRRT).
A catalyst award was granted to Cheng (Jack) Song, Ph.D. (Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology) to develop a universal, scalable platform for human cystic kidney organoids that could be adopted globally by research labs, regardless of their expertise. At our request, he partnered with Michal Mrug, M.D. to explore the feasibility of this initiative, and both agreed to collaborate.
Additional Pilot Awards Supported by the NRTC
2024
Shena Gazaway, Ph.D., RN (Nursing) led "Forge AHEAD", a feasibility trial of a stakeholder-enhanced, lay-navigator–delivered intervention aimed at improving the decisional partnership between patients with chronic kidney disease and their care partners. This project was co-sponsored with the Deep South Center to Reduce Disparities in Chronic Disease.
Yan Lu, M.D. (Nephrology) conducted a study titled "Unveiling the Metabolic Switch: Role of Lactate Dehydrogenase A (LDHA) in Cisplatin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)". This project was co-sponsored with UAB-UCSD O'Brien Institutional funds.