Lisa M. Harrison-Bernard, PhD, FAPS, FAHA, FASN

Diabetes affects 29 million Americans and is the 6^th leading cause of death in the US. Diabetic nephropathy is the most common cause of end-stage renal disease worldwide. This chronic and debilitating disease is characterized by progressive proteinuria, declining glomerular filtration rate, and increased risk for cardiovascular disease.  

Our research focuses on how the effects of two important hormonal systems, renin-angiotensin and endothelin, contribute to the failure of normal kidney blood vessel function and lead to the development and progression of kidney disease in type II diabetic patients. The research is focused on determining the role of intrarenal production of angiotensin and endothelin-1 via chymase-dependent pathways to the microvascular and glomerular dysfunction contributing to the progression of diabetic kidney disease.   Most important, blocking the actions of a specific enzyme, chymase, may provide a new therapeutic drug target to reduce the influence of these hormonal systems on diabetic kidney disease.  Our research utilizes the highly clinically relevant obese type II diabetic db/db mouse which exhibits many of the principal features of human diabetic nephropathy.