Landmark Kidney Study at Penn
Seeks Volunteers
Project Aims to Discover how
Kidney Disease Affects the Heart
(Philadelphia, PA) – Researchers
at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
are looking for volunteers to participate in the Chronic
Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) study. The landmark
project is being led by Raymond Townsend, MD, Associate
Professor of Medicine. The multi-site, national study
will try to gain a better understanding of kidney
(renal) problems and their effects on the heart.
Volunteers should be 21 to 74 years
old with modest impairment of kidney function (this
is measured by a blood test called the ‘serum
creatinine’ level), but not on dialysis, and
must not have undergone a kidney transplant. Researchers
will carefully monitor participants’ heart and
kidney health for several years through an annual
visit, which includes a physical exam, echocardiograms
after 1 and 4 years, blood tests, and urine samples.
Volunteers and their doctors will be provided with
study results. All tests are free of charge and there
is modest compensation for participants’ involvement.
Researchers hope to recruit 3000 participants
in the USA, with about 450 coming from Pennsylvania,
New Jersey and Delaware. Completion of enrollment
for the study is expected to take two years, finishing
in December 2005, with subjects followed-up for 4
years. The study is sponsored by the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), through the branch of the NIH known
as the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and
Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
Anyone interested should call (215)
662-3636 or (215) 662-2962. The toll free number is
1-866-589-CRIC (2742). More information about the
CRIC study can be obtained through the internet by
going to www.cristudy.org
or by contacting the research team through an email
at CRIC@mail.med.upenn.edu.
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