If you are seen at UNC and have been diagnosed with monoclonal gammopathies or amyloidosis, and the disease is affecting your kidneys, we would like your permission to access your medical record to learn about your treatments and how well they work.

This is a three-year research study for people with primary membranous nephropathy (primary MN). The study will test if combining belimumab and rituximab is effective in treating Primary MN.

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of a device removing lipids from the blood using an apheresis device in treating primary FSGS

If you have been treated with ANCA vasculitis and you are now in remission, you may be able to participate in a study to test if a specific blood test can help your doctor decide if you need maintenance therapy.

The purpose of this study is to learn more about three kidney diseases called nephrotic syndrome: Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), Minimal Change Disease (MCD), and Membranous Nephropathy (MN). By collecting health information and laboratory samples from individuals who have these diseases and by making this information available to researchers, we hope to gain new knowledge about these diseases and to find better treatments for them.

A challenge in treating COVID-19 is early prediction of patient outcomes. Here, we develop a functional assay for patient risk stratification based on clinically observed, unique vascular signatures of COVID-19. We integrate data from this assay with patient process of care information to determine predictive metrics for risk stratification.

About two in five people who are undergoing a kidney biopsy have diabetes. Diabetes is a common finding in people with kidney disease, but little is known about the specific ways in which diabetes affects kidney function. The purpose of this study is to gather two groups of patients with diabetes who undergo a kidney biopsy in order to create a source of information with genetic, blood, and urine samples available, by which researchers can study how diabetes affects kidney function.

The purpose of this research study is to try and teach a computer program to assess how a dialysis vascular access fistula is maturing, when it could be ready to put needles in, or when it needs to be fixed to allow it to mature better; based on the electronic stethoscope recordings.

The purpose of this IRB approved Humanitarian Use of a device is to allow patients to be treated with LDL-Apheresis, using the LIPOSORBER® LA-15 system. This device is approved for adult and pediatric patients with Focal Segmental Glomeruloslerosis as a Humanitarian Use Device. Its effectiveness has not been demonstrated.

Current dialysis vascular access patient education materials can be overwhelming, not written in plain language, and not have enough realistic information about the steps involved in getting a dialysis vascular access before starting hemodialysis. This study is being done to create and test a dialysis vascular access educational video for patients. Participants would take part in a one-time interview about their thoughts on dialysis vascular access education and their ideas for a vascular access video.