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Kidney Health Research Institute

Kidney disease affects one in every seven adults, and is associated with diminished quality of life and excessive morbidity and mortality. Geisinger Kidney Health Research Institute (KHRI) is dedicated to decreasing the burden of kidney disease through a clinic-based, patient-oriented research program leveraging several system-level assets at Geisinger.

Our team

Investigators

  • Alexander Chang, MD, MS
  • Jamie A Green, MD, MS
  • Prince Mohan, MD

Biostatisticians

  • Lester H Kirchner, PhD
  • Amanda Young, MS

Research support staff

  • Christina Yule, research project manager II
  • Lauren Gummo, research project coordinator
  • Sara Kwiecien, senior research assistant
  • Megan Oliveri, research assistant

 

KHRI researchers are engaged in projects with other health services researchers, social scientists, dietitians, biostatisticians, informaticists, health economists and geneticists at Geisinger's research institutes and centers.

Research focus

Acute kidney injury

Computer generated kidney
Utilizing advanced computational techniques in the clinic to identify patients at risk for acute kidney injury.

Burden of kidney disease

Seated man reaching for his back
Investigate risk factors and risk prognostication of chronic kidney disease and its associated complications.

Genetics of kidney disease

Genetic counseling field to rapidly expand
Combining electronic health record and genomic data to target specific kidney diseases and the complications associated with diabetes and obesity.

Health literacy and outcomes

Patient with tablet looking at MyGeisinger patient portal
Investigating the relationships between health literacy and health outcomes, and designing interventions to improve both.

Obesity and diet quality

Person on a weight scale
Evaluating the impact of bariatric surgery and diet intervention in relation to kidney disease.

Patient centered care

Doctor explains the Geisinger Extra plan with patient.
Measuring the effectiveness of a new healthcare delivery process to improve the care of patients with advanced kidney disease.

Kidney Patient Advisory Council (KPAC)

The KPAC was formed by the Geisinger Kidney Health Research Institute in June 2016, as an initiative to enhance partnership and collaboration between patients and kidney health researchers and clinicians. The advisory council consists of 11 patients with CKD, in varying stages of CKD. The goal of the advisory council is to get feedback about existing and future research KHRI projects, to help incorporate patients as partners in clinical research. The advisory council meets three times a year, and often topics discussed are initiated by patient input.

KHRI research resources

Doctor sitting with a man wearing a baseball cap

Patient-centered focus in the clinical setting

KHRI focuses its research efforts on objectives and outcomes important to our patients. Patient-reported data collection is being directly integrated with clinical care in order to enhance and inform comparative effectiveness studies designed to improve quality of life and decrease complications of kidney disease. The structure of KHRI is designed to enhance its capabilities as a micro-Learning Healthcare System, defined by the Institute of Medicine as "…one in which progress in science, informatics and care culture align to generate new knowledge as an ongoing, natural by-product of the care experience, and seamlessly refine and deliver best practices for continuous improvement in health and healthcare." The KHRI aims to seamlessly integrate patient-reported information with clinical data, delivering actionable knowledge and improving clinical care.
Doctor on a computer

Multi-dimensional research resources

Complementing the patient-reported data collection in the clinic are several large, Geisinger-wide resources. These include a comprehensive, enterprise-level data warehouse (electronic health record data since 1996), claims data through Geisinger Health Plan and genetic data, both whole exome sequencing and whole genome array genotyping, with biobanked blood (MyCode established in 2007). More than 180,000 have been consented for MyCode and have bio-banked blood samples.
Family walking by lake

Capacity for longitudinal study

Kidney disease and its complications typically require many years to develop and progress. The KHRI effort benefits from Geisinger's low, one percent annual out-migration rate. The KHRI sees patients from across the region, covering extensive portions of central and northeast Pennsylvania and northern Maryland (2.6 million people in 44 counties). Together, this degree of stability and longitudinal follow-up allows for robust investigations into disease development, progression and outcomes.