NIDDK Briefs

Agodoa Honored by HHS Office of Minority Health

Dr. Lawrence Agodoa, M.D., director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases’ Office of Minority Health Research Coordination, received a Director’s Award from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health. The honor recognized Agodoa’s work on minority health issues, which extends from his role as a coordinator of the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension—the first large-scale, multicenter clinical trial in African Americans at the National Institutes of Health—to his leadership in establishing the Minority Organ and Tissue Transplantation Education Program.

National Kidney Disease Education Program Launches Spanish-Language Initiative

The National Kidney Disease Education Program, part of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, has introduced a new website—www.nkdep.nih.gov/espanol—and a brochure designed to highlight the connection between kidney disease and its primary risk factors: diabetes and high blood pressure. Hispanics/Latinos are at especially high risk of diabetes and hypertension and carry a kidney failure rate that is nearly twice that of Caucasians. Additional information is available at 1–866–4–KIDNEY (454–3639).

NIDDK and PKD Foundation Launch HALT-PKD Treatment Trials

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the PKD Foundation have launched two treatment trials for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), a common inherited disorder characterized by cysts in the kidneys and other organs, high blood pressure, and dangerous bulges in the brain’s blood vessels. Symptoms usually appear between the ages of 30 and 40 and include back pain, side pain, and headaches. About half of ADPKD patients eventually develop kidney failure and require dialysis or a kidney transplant. The trial compares standard therapy—angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors—with a more aggressive therapy that combines ACE inhibitors with angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). More than 1,000 people will be included in the study.

NIH Publication No. 06–5743
July 2006