Accomplishment Grant

Dr. Jeffrey Miner Awarded Alport Syndrome Foundation Grant

Dr. Jeffrey Miner
Jeffrey Miner, PhD, FASN, will assess CRISPR’s usefulness as a gene therapy treatment for Alport syndrome.

WashU Nephrology congratulates Jeffrey Miner, PhD, FASN, who was awarded $132,000 from the Alport Syndrome Foundation (ASF).  Miner, recently named Eduardo and Judith Slatopolsky Professor of Medicine in Nephrology, will use the grant to perform proof-of-concept gene therapy studies in a mouse model of Alport syndrome

ASF is strategically investing in research that uses new technologies in the treatment of other diseases to potentially unlock a cure for Alport syndrome.  The gene-editing tool CRISPR has attracted attention for its potential use as a curative therapy for monogenic diseases.  Since Alport syndrome is the second most prevalent monogenic disease of the kidney, it needs to be determined if CRISPR will be a useful gene therapy treatment for Alport syndrome.

Miner, an internationally recognized expert on Alport Syndrome and Director of Basic Research for our division is part of a team of eight scientific researchers – the core of an inaugural Scientific Advisory Research Network (SARN)- assembled by ASF to devise a strategy to investigate whether CRISPR is a viable curative pathway.  

The studies will begin with work in the Miner laboratory to determine the ages and stages of kidney disease at which promising gene therapy approaches, such as CRISPR, would be effective in Alport patients.

“I am so grateful to receive this funding from ASF and to be a part of the SARN. I look forward to collaborating with the other members of the SARN to help pave the way towards development of new therapies for Alport syndrome.”

Dr. Jeffrey Miner

The ASF grant is funded through the generosity of patients, families and friends who donate to ASF. 

Follow @JeffMinerPhD on Twitter and keep up to date with the Division of Nephrology @WUNephrology.