Topics and Expertise: chronic kidney failure

Kidney failure is a debilitating and ultimately deadly illness, and a health policy crisis. With 468,000 people on dialysis in the U.S., costing the government $31 billion dollars a year, very little money is spent on researching alternatives to current treatments.

The San Francisco Chronicle and the Bay Area News Group, which includes the San Jose Mercury News and Oakland Tribune, have published feature articles this week focused on The Kidney Project, an effort to develop the first implantable bioartificial kidney to treat end-stage renal disease.

Research at the UCSF School of Pharmacy to develop the first implantable bioartificial kidney recently received exceptional private support: $1 million from the family of the late philanthropists Harry and Diana Hind, and $50,000 from the Patterson Barclay Memorial Foundation.