USF Health establishes new center to advance hypertension and kidney disease research

The University of South Florida has launched a new Hypertension and Kidney Research Center (HKRC), which will serve as an interdisciplinary hub for cutting-edge medical research into
one of the state’s most pressing health challenges. 

Housed under the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and bringing together basic scientists and clinicians across several departments,
the center aims to facilitate high-impact studies, attract top-tier researchers, secure
competitive grants and elevate USF’s reputation nationally as a key destination for
biomedical research. 

The new center meets an urgent need for research that addresses hypertension, also
known as high blood pressure. The condition affects nearly 120 million adults across
the country and is a major risk factor for serious health issues including stroke,
coronary heart disease and renal failure.

In Florida, with its high proportion of older adults, the risk of hypertension is
particularly acute — high blood pressure is the most common medical condition in the
state, with nearly half of adults aged 45 to 79 suffering from the condition.

“There was a critical need to create a dedicated center for hypertension and kidney
research at USF due to the unique health challenges faced by the state,” said Alexander Staruschenko, PhD, professor of molecular pharmacology and physiology in the USF Health Morsani College
of Medicine and director of the HKRC. “Through cutting-edge research and interdisciplinary
collaboration, the center aims to advance the understanding and prevention of hypertension
and kidney disease, potentially translating scientific discoveries into the improvement
of patient care.”

The establishment of the Hypertension and Kidney Research Center comes at a time of
immense growth in the research enterprise at USF and USF Health, as the university
set a new record of $738 million in research funding in 2024 and recently was invited
to join the prestigious Association of American Universities. It also builds upon the Morsani College of Medicine’s rapid rise in research over the past decade and status as one the nation’s top-ranked medical schools. 

The center will accelerate an already strong nephrology research portfolio at USF Health, helping recruit new faculty while further integrating research expertise
in cardiology, nephrology, genomics and public health, promoting cross-disciplinary
collaboration to solve complex health challenges and make a difference in the lives
of patients.  

“When you bring together all these experts with different approaches to attack the
same question, they are much more efficient and productive,” said Dr. Staruschenko.

In addition to expanded research opportunities, undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral
students will also benefit from enhanced academic and specialized training programs.

Jessica Dominguez Rieg, PhD, an associate professor with the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, leads an NIH grant-funded project associated with the new center that seeks to increase
interest and offer new opportunities for medical students in nephrology at a time
plagued by national workforce shortages in the field.

The project, Research and Education in Nephrology for Undergraduate Medical Students
in Florida, works to meet the health care needs of patients afflicted with kidney
disease and hypertension and grow the nephrology physician workforce by introducing
pre-clinical medical students to the discipline. The program will establish a learning
community that provides 12 rising second-year medical students with 10 weeks of hands-on
research education in foundational concepts of renal physiology over the summer. Students
will be paired with faculty mentors and engage directly in an immersive kidney research
project.  

“This grant is very exciting because it is the first of its kind to be awarded in
the country that is looking at getting more medical students interested in nephrology,
and many of the center’s faculty are the ones that are actually mentoring these medical
students,” said Dr. Dominguez Rieg. “Students will be able to find role models very
early on during medical school and have the ability to participate in a research project
that helps them build their resume and be competitive for top residency programs.”