Benjamin D. Humphreys, MD, PhD

Benjamin D. Humphreys, MD, PhD

Joseph Friedman Professor of Renal Diseases and Chief, Division of Nephrology

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.

Nephrology Division

PubMed