May 12, 2004

Landmark Kidney Study at Penn
Seeks Volunteers

Project Aims to Discover how Kidney Disease Affects the Heart

(Philadelphia, PA) – Researchers at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania are looking for volunteers to participate in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) study. The landmark project is being led by Raymond Townsend, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine. The multi-site, national study will try to gain a better understanding of kidney (renal) problems and their effects on the heart.

Volunteers should be 21 to 74 years old with modest impairment of kidney function (this is measured by a blood test called the ‘serum creatinine’ level), but not on dialysis, and must not have undergone a kidney transplant. Researchers will carefully monitor participants’ heart and kidney health for several years through an annual visit, which includes a physical exam, echocardiograms after 1 and 4 years, blood tests, and urine samples. Volunteers and their doctors will be provided with study results. All tests are free of charge and there is modest compensation for participants’ involvement.

Researchers hope to recruit 3000 participants in the USA, with about 450 coming from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Completion of enrollment for the study is expected to take two years, finishing in December 2005, with subjects followed-up for 4 years. The study is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the branch of the NIH known as the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

Anyone interested should call (215) 662-3636 or (215) 662-2962. The toll free number is 1-866-589-CRIC (2742). More information about the CRIC study can be obtained through the internet by going to www.cristudy.org or by contacting the research team through an email at CRIC@mail.med.upenn.edu.

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