March is Kidney Awareness Month–the time to highlight a disease that affects more than 30 million Americans. It’s important to know the risk factors of chronic kidney disease, like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and family history of kidney disease, among others. Kidney disease can also be caused by glomerular diseases, autoimmune disease, or can be a genetic disease. Kidney disease usually has no early symptoms. Therefore, it’s important to be tested. While there is no cure, it can be treated, and many cases of kidney disease are preventable.

A $1.9 Million NIH grant will enable new studies of alpha-1-adrenergic receptors in the heart. Dr. Brian Colwell Jensen, an associate professor in the division of cardiology and the department of pharmacology, will serve as principal investigator for research that considers how metabolic alterations provide cardioprotection.