Research Opportunities

Northwest Kidney Centers patients play a key role in scientific studies, frequently serving as research subjects. Thanks to their support, we've been able to make groundbreaking discoveries that help save lives.

About our research

The Kidney Research Institute is Northwest Kidney Centers’ collaboration with UW Medicine. It focuses on cardiovascular complications, diabetic kidney disease, the role of a healthy lifestyle in preventing complications of kidney disease, genetics, acute kidney injury, and novel kidney replacement therapies such as a wearable artificial kidney.

If you’re a Northwest Kidney Centers patient, you have the opportunity to contribute to this ongoing mission.

Why take part in a research study?

✓ You’ll help improve the lives of people with kidney disease, perhaps even your own.

✓ It’s a chance to experience the research process and peek into the future of chronic kidney disease treatment.

✓ It doesn’t usually require much extra time or effort on your part, so it’s an easy way give back.

✓ We need you! Without patient participants, our researchers couldn’t discover new, better ways to prevent, detect and treat kidney disease.

What can you expect?

Volunteering as a research subject can be as simple as filling out a questionnaire or taking a blood test. Or you might participate in a trial of a new type of treatment, such as the Wearable Artificial Kidney.

Some research studies may require your ongoing participation over the course of several months. For example, one past study looked at how consuming foods with antioxidants, like pomegrante juice, affected people on hemodialysis.

Learn more

To volunteer as a participant in our research studies, or to learn more about being involved in research, please call 206-616-8KRI or email info@kri.washington.edu.

Patients supporting research

Nearly 1,000 Northwest Kidney Centers patients are on the Kidney Research Institute registry of those interested in participating in future studies.

Scientists at the Kidney Research Institute have published 1,300 papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Since 2008, the Kidney Research Institute has received $140 million in grant support.

Recent research studies

Wearable Artificial Kidney study

Throughout 2014, our Kidney Research Institute prepared for safety trials of the new device. Many of the trial participants were expected to be Northwest Kidney Centers dialysis patients.

International PD study

Northwest Kidney Centers was selected as a study site for PDOPPS (Peritoneal Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study), an international investigation to improve PD treatment.

Transplantation AIMS study

Researchers hadn’t planned to work with Northwest Kidney Centers on this study of American Indians and Alaska Natives, but selected our site after seeing how engaged our patients were in preliminary work.

Oxygen during dialysis study

A novel pilot study at Northwest Kidney Centers examined whether breathing extra oxygen during dialysis helped prevent diabetes-related amputations. The pilot may result in a major research grant.

“Seattle is the Yankees of kidney research. The city’s history of success in kidney innovation gives me faith that more discoveries will happen here.”

— Bill Peckham, on dialysis for 28 years

The role of research

Northwest Kidney Centers was built on the pioneering work of scientists. Research has played a key part in our mission since the beginning, and we continue to make strides in the fight against kidney disease.

Read more about our Kidney Research Institute, its vision for the next 10 years, and why kidney disease research is so important.