Benjamin D. Humphreys, MD, PhD
Joseph Friedman Professor of Renal Diseases and Chief, Division of Nephrology
- Phone: 314-362-8233
- Email: humphreysbd@nospam.wustl.edu
Research Interest
Complications
Signal Transduction/Hormone Action
Category(ies) of Research
Basic
Translational
Descriptor of Research
Over 100,000 people per year develop kidney failure in the US, most have diabetes, and most are treated with dialysis therapy. While life-saving, this procedure is costly, inconvenient and accelerates heart disease. An average dialysis patient has a 1 in 5 chance of dying every year. Paying for dialysis costs 7 percent of the entire Medicare budget, even though these patients make up only 1 percent of the Medicare population. In The Humphreys Lab we are developing new and innovative treatments to help patients with kidney disease. We are using human stem cells to generate kidney organoids in a dish, with a goal of one day transplanting them into patients with kidney failure. We also study the kidney’s ability to regenerate itself so that we can harness this ability for therapeutic uses.
The Humphreys lab also houses and manages the Washington University mouse embryonic stem cell core which provides gene targeting, selection and ES cell expansion services to the Washington University community.