Our lab studies the effect of obesity and diabetes on kidney function and its implications for blood pressure and electrolyte levels in the body. Over years, obesity and diabetes cause progressive damage to the kidney, resulting in chronic kidney disease and eventual kidney failure. Well before that, however, they also distort the primary role of a healthy kidney, to maintain the balance of water, electrolytes, and other chemicals to allow the body to function normally. 

We focus on two questions:

How does obesity and diabetes alter the kidney response to diuretics (common drugs prescribed for high blood pressure and swelling)? These drugs act to block molecular transporters and channels in the kidney that reabsorb electrolytes from the fluid that eventually becomes urine back into the body. Variability in the efficacy of these drugs is well-described and may also change within the same patient over time. Understanding why this happens would be a useful tool for physicians caring for these patients.

How does obesity and diabetes alter the autonomic nervous system's regulation of kidney function? The autonomic nervous system connects the kidney to the brain and integrates its function with many other organs to control blood pressure, electrolyte balance, energy balance, and many other critical bodily functions.