Posted on September 16, 2005 at 3:00 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — UAB scientists hope the approval of a new multidisciplinary center will enhance understanding of autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD), a genetic kidney disease.

Lisa Guay-Woodford, M.D., was named first director of the UAB Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease Core Center, authorized today by the UA System Board of Trustees. Guay-Woodford is professor of medicine and director of the Division of Genetic and Translational Medicine.

ARPKD occurs in one in 6,000-40,000 people, with a higher incidence in Finns and Afrikaners. It is a chronic and progressive disease that causes eventual kidney failure and liver abnormalities. Approximately 50 percent of patients are diagnosed prenatally. There is no cure and early newborn death occurs in up to half of those diagnosed.

UAB maintains a registry for ARPKD patients and has one of four participating laboratories in an international ARPKD Consortium. Guay-Woodford’s group was one of the groups that identified the gene that causes the disease.

UAB’s center will serve as a unique resource to design and develop studies involving mechanisms of the disease, to enhance diagnostic specificity and to expand therapeutic approaches.