Chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology: applying a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the world's most common tubulointerstitial kidney disease

PROJECT SUMMARY The proposed diversity supplement supports post-doctoral research training for Dr. Marimar Contreras-Nieves, MD, MS candidate. Dr. Contreras-Nieves aims to develop an academic research career in nephrology, with a focus on studying environmental risk factors for kidney disease. As the top graduate of her medical school

class at the University of Puerto Rico, Dr. Contreras-Nieves enhances diversity in the nephrology workforce because: 1) women from her background are underrepresented in medicine, 2) as a fluent Spanish speaker, she is able to provide culturally concordant care to persons facing language and sociopolitical barriers to health

care, and 3) her research interests focus on underserved and rural populations. The goal of this research supplement will be to provide Dr. Contreras-Nieves practical experience in field research in her topic of interest: kidney disease in agricultural workers. In the process of implementing this project, she will be gaining

experience in environmental epidemiology, study design, cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, and primary data collection. Her multidisciplinary team of mentors will include as primary mentor nephrologist Dr. Shuchi Anand, Associate Professor of Medicine, Stanford University, geochemist Dr. Penny Vlahos, Professor

of Marine Sciences at University of Connecticut, and statistician Dr. Maria Montez-Rath, Director of the Biostatistics Core of the Division of Nephrology at Stanford University. Dr. Contreras-Nieves participation will in turn lead to manuscripts focused on persons with rapid kidney function decline within the cohort recruited

under Dr. Anand’s R01 and generate new knowledge to facilitate ongoing research in the field of chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology.