Ignacio Portales‑Castillo, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology, has been selected for funding in the third round of the George M. O’Brien Kidney Resource Alliance (OKRA) Opportunity Pool Program. He will receive $50,000 in research support for his pilot grant proposal, “Reduce Creatine in Proximal Tubule to Enhance Autophagy and Protect from Renal Injury.”
OKRA is a consortium of National Resource Centers (NRC) that provides kidney researchers with specialized tools, technologies, and expertise beyond those typically available in an individual lab or institutional core. The OKRA Opportunity Pool Program provides competitive pilot awards to support early‑stage investigators or those new to kidney research.
Launched in 2024, the program aims to address scientific and technological gaps in kidney research and foster new collaborations across institutions. Awardees become members of the OKRA Consortium and contribute to its collaborative research mission.
This award adds to Dr. Portales‑Castillo’s growing research portfolio, which includes his recent NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award, a 2025 Clinical and Translational Research Funding Program (CTRFP) grant supporting his work on creatine‑based approaches to hereditary kidney disease, a Pilot and Feasibility award from the WashU Diabetes Research Center, and his recent recognition as a 2025 Dean’s Scholar.
Read more about Dr. Portales-Castillo in our Nephrology News:
- Dr. Ignacio Portales-Castillo Awarded K08 Grant
- Nephrologist Ignacio Portales-Castillo Named 2025 Dean’s Scholar
- Ignacio Portales-Castillo Receives CTRFP Grant
- Save the Date: Nephrologist Ignacio Portales-Castillo to Speak at Medicine Grand Rounds Sept 26, 2024
- Dr. Ignacio Portales-Castillo Joins WashU Faculty
