"Kidney disease" encompasses a broad range of disorders with protean manifestations. The clinical study of kidney disease is currently restricted by a limited ability to describe and characterize the nature of underlying disease with conventional noninvasive biomarkers including serum creatinine and urinalysis. Kidney tissue obtained by biopsy is an ideal standard to provide critical information to translate new therapies and improve understanding of disease but is rarely, if ever, pursued for research purposes due to its invasive nature and associated risks.
The collection of minimal amounts of biospecimens (blood, urine, DNA) of patients with known or suspected kidney disease will provide a critical opportunity to develop and validate novel blood and urine biomarkers that can improve understanding of the pathophysiology of kidney disease and its progression, the genetic and biochemical basis for susceptibility to disease, and identify markers that may predict or measure response to therapies. A centralized biorepository of patients who have minimal additional blood and urine collected that is linked to the electronic health record will provide an unprecedented opportunity to further knowledge and advance care for patients with suspected or established kidney disease.