A rare few never developed high cholesterol — no matter how they lived.
DOES THIS ACTUALLY WORK?
It's become real medicine before: the story of how DNA cracked cholesterol
A few people are born naturally protected from a disease. Find out why, and you can protect everyone. It's worked before, for cholesterol. This study looks for the same clues in kidney disease.
Scientists read their DNA to find out what made them different.
They found one small genetic change that kept cholesterol low for life.
That clue became a new class of heart medicine.
In about a decadethe discovery moved from a genetic clue to medicine.
Based on a real example: loss-of-function variants in the PCSK9 gene are linked to lifelong low LDL cholesterol and lower cardiovascular risk (Cohen et al., NEJM, 2006), and led to approved PCSK9-inhibitor medicines within about a decade. Shown to illustrate how genetic research leads to treatments — not a promise of a specific outcome here.
Who can join
Your perspective belongs in this study
The Research Study of the Genetics of Kidney Disease needs a broad range of experiences to support.
People living with kidney disease
Your experience is essential to research seeking to understand kidney disease more fully. Taking part helps make sure this work learns from the people closest to the condition.
Healthy individuals
Healthy volunteers provide an important comparison for research. Your contribution helps researchers study kidney health across a wider community.
Participation steps
Three simple steps to contribute
Your participation begins online and continues at home with a saliva kit.
- 01
Complete the online questionnaire
Tell the study a little about yourself and review the participation information.
- 02
Receive and use the saliva kit
A saliva collection kit is sent to you with instructions for completing it at home.
- 03
Contribute to the study
Your contribution becomes part of research exploring kidney disease genetics.
Privacy and trust
Your information deserves care
Research participation should feel clear and considered. The Research Study of the Genetics of Kidney Disease is built with safeguards for participant information.
- De-identified dataYour research data is de-identified.
- Never soldData is not sold to advertisers or data brokers.
- Encrypted informationInformation is protected with encryption.
- Ethical oversightThe study is subject to ethical and IRB oversight.