Our current research
In the Department of Nephrology at Children's Hospital Colorado, we strive to get patients back where they belong: home. And while the outcomes for our patients consistently meet or exceed national benchmarks, our work is far from done.
Our commitment to continually raising the standard of kidney care makes research and innovation a vital part of what we do. We collaborate with other disciplines and institutions to share data, identify best practices and improve approaches to care.
Pediatric nephrology advancements
Our physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses and other nephrology team members conduct every form of research. This includes performing laboratory-based research investigating the causes of many different pediatric kidney diseases, applying these new insights from the laboratory to pediatric patients through clinical and translational research, and conducting clinical trials investigating new treatments for these diseases. They also work on collaborative research studying the best management and outcomes of our pediatric kidney disease, pediatric kidney transplant and pediatric dialysis populations.
What our kidney research means for kids
Scientists in our Kidney Center have many research interests spanning a broad range of basic science and clinical areas. These projects include:
- Acute kidney injury (AKI) in pediatrics
- Nephrotic syndrome and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis
- Thrombotic microangiopathies, such as hemolytic uremic syndrome
- Complement-mediated diseases
- Pediatric dialysis
- Improving pediatric kidney transplant outcomes
"Every new research question; every new experiment, study, or clinical trial; every new result, discovery, or insight – they all come from our deep-seated drive to help make the children better that we see in the hospital and in our clinics every single day.”
-BRADLEY DIXON, MD



Nearly one in four kids will sustain AKI during a stay in the hospital. That’s why our multidisciplinary PKIDS Program is designed to study and prevent AKI across our hospital. The Program brings together specialists from pediatric nephrology, neonatology and cardiac and pediatric intensive care.
We're working on several research and data-gathering efforts system-wide. Our projects include:
- Nephrology: The Nephrology department participates in several national multi-center collaboratives to continually evaluate and improve the care of our patients on continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) and other modalities of kidney replacement therapy. Nephrology plays an active role in leadership of the Nephrotoxic Injury Negated by Just-in-Time Action (NINJA) Program to reduce the rates of nephrotoxin-associated AKI.
- Pediatric critical care: The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) team has implemented a nephrotoxic AKI prevention program to study the effect of nephrotoxins on critically ill patients with important balancing measures. Through participation in the NINJA program, the PICU also regularly reviews potential process improvements to reduce the rates of nephrotoxin-associated AKI. In collaboration with Nephrology, the PICU uses CRRT machine data alongside electronic medical record data to predict and avert problems with CRRT circuit life.
- System-wide: We work with nurses and pharmacies to use an automatic electronic health record surveillance program to identify patients within the hospital exposed to nephrotoxic medications. We are creating a hospital-wide Clinical Pathway incorporating blood and urine biomarkers to identify kidney injury earlier — a part of our effort to reduce kidney injury across specialties.
- Principal Investigators:
Weiwen Vivian Shih, MD
Erin Stenson, MD
Among critically and non-critically ill hospitalized pediatric patients, AKI most commonly occurs due to decreased renal perfusion or nephrotoxic drug exposure. AKI can also lead to increased mortality and length of stay (LOS) in critically ill patients.
A research team conducted a retrospective multicenter cross-sectional analysis of patient data from 34 children’s hospitals to determine if AKI was associated with changes to LOS for common pediatric diagnoses among children with and without ICU-level care. Researchers found that the development of AKI was associated with longer LOS and increased exposure to nephrotoxic medications among all pediatric patients.
Read the study “Impact of Acute Kidney Injury and Nephrotoxic Exposure on Hospital Length of Stay”
Children's Colorado's Eliza Blanchette, MD, serves as the site principal investigator for IROC, which invites pediatric hospitals nationwide to share data about caring for kidney transplant patients. Together, we learn from each other and implement consistent practices to improve the outlook for children with complex kidney disease.
The kidney relies on extensive and highly specialized networks of capillaries to perform its multiple functions in maintaining health and homeostasis. When injured, the endothelial cells that line the surface of these small vessels cannot effectively perform their protective and supportive roles and can contribute to the progression of disease.
In his lab, Russell Whelan, MD, focuses on using multiple approaches to understanding the mechanisms behind endothelial cell injury in kidney disease. A better understanding of these pathways of injury also supports his research in preventative and therapeutic approaches to preserving microvascular function in the kidney and beyond.
Minimal change disease (MCD) is the most common nephrotic syndrome in childhood, yet its cause is unknown. While steroids initially induce remission in most patients, nearly all children suffer multiple relapses. Complications also may occur, such as AKI, infection, blood clots and progression to kidney failure. Without a molecular understanding of the mechanisms leading to podocyte injury in MCD, we will be unable to develop targeted therapies or biomarkers for these children. Gabriel Cara-Fuentes, MD, aims to help identify the cause, find biomarkers that can predict clinical outcomes and develop specific, targeted therapies to mitigate this devastating disease.
The Children’s Colorado Kidney Center participates in the SCOPE collaborative, a large-scale quality improvement initiative of over 55 centers nationwide dedicated to preventing infection in children and adolescents on hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. SCOPE hospital teams include doctors, nurses and infection preventionists who work together to identify and implement interventions to prevent infections across pediatric dialysis units. Led by Melisha Hanna, MD, and Weiwen Vivian Shih, MD, Children’s Colorado provides care to pediatric patients with end-stage renal disease that leads to fewer hospitalizations, reduced risk of infections and more.
Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) and C3 glomerulopathy (C3G) are rare chronic complement-mediated kidney diseases with limited treatment options. Without effective treatment, these diseases cause loss of kidney function over time and can recur after kidney transplantation. An internationally recognized expert in the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases, Bradley Dixon, MD, leads a team of researchers conducting industry-sponsored clinical trials in new complement-targeted therapies being developed for these diseases.
Children’s Colorado is one of nine participating pediatric institutions in GLEAN. Through this PEDSnet collaborative, Bradley Dixon, MD, works with participating nephrologists at all nine sites to conduct clinical and outcomes research in glomerular diseases in children, including nephrotic syndrome.
Goals of this work include:
- Identifying and studying glomerular diseases in children by applying a computable phenotype to electronic health record
- Examining and standardizing care for children with nephrotic syndrome to reduce infections and hospitalizations
- Bringing together patients and families with nephrotic syndrome to learn from each other’s shared experiences with these diseases
Children’s Colorado is a proud participant of NAPRTCS. Led by site principal investigator Margret Bock, MD, we’re helping improve care for children at all stages of chronic kidney disease by sharing data with this international multi-site database. Active participation allows us to contribute to multiple registry-based research studies, such as co-leading the investigation of induction and maintenance immunosuppression protocols for pediatric kidney transplant recipients. We are dedicated to advancing clinical care and innovation for children with all stages of chronic kidney disease. Being an active, participating NAPRTCS center is a critical factor in that equation.