This press release contains dated information and should be used for background only.
A pioneer in the research of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) at the University of Kansas Medical Center has received an international honor. Jared Grantham, MD, University Distinguished Professor and Director of the Kidney Institute, has been awarded the Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize for Advancement in the Understanding of Polycystic Kidney Disease.
Dr. Grantham will receive the $50,000 prize, one of the most significant in the medical research field, at the International Society of Nephrology World Congress in Berlin, June 9, 2003.
PKD is the most common of all life-threatening genetic diseases, affecting 600,000 Americans and 12.5 million people worldwide. It is more common that cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, Down's syndrome and sickle cell anemia combined. There is no known cure or treatment for PKD.
A normal kidney is the size of a human fist. However, with the presence of PKD, cysts develop in both kidneys. There may be just a few cysts or many, and the cysts may range in size from a pinhead to the size of a grapefruit. When many cysts develop, the kidneys can grow to be the size of a football or larger and weigh as much as 38 pounds each.
Dr. Grantham established the PKD Foundation in Kansas City in 1982 with businessman Joseph Bruening, whose wife had the disease, and remained an officer with the foundation until 1998. The PKD Foundation provides nearly $2.5 million in research funding throughout the United States.
"I am honored and humbled that an international panel of scientists has chosen me as one of its first recipients of this prestigious award," said Grantham. "I think it is a particularly important event for the University of Kansas Medical Center, as the PKD research movement, now involving hundreds of scientists worldwide, began on this campus in the late 1970's."
Thomas Kaplan of Paris, France established the Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize, in honor of his late mother who died of the disease. The prize, to be awarded every other year after 2003, was created to stimulate interest in advancing PKD research leading to new treatments and a cure for PKD. The International Society of Nephrology and the PKD Foundation sponsor the prize.
"The impact of Dr. Grantham's research on the lives of thousands of people around the world is immense," said Donald Hagen, MD, executive vice chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical Center. "He has brought honor to his profession and the University of Kansas."
Editor's note: Dr. Grantham, and a patient with PKD, will be available for interviews. In order to help illustrate the story, Dr. Grantham has a preserved polycystic kidney available for photographs. Please call the media contact on page one to make arrangements.