Biomedical Resource Core

SUMMARY-BIOMEDICAL RESOURCE CORE A major unmet challenge in kidney research is the inability of most traditional approaches and methods to harness the complexity of tissue function, structure, and cellular phenotypes. Innovations in nanotechnology provide powerful tools, reagents, and platforms that outperform traditional approaches in several areas of medicine, as clearly shown by stunning successes including mRNA vaccine development and oncology. Nevertheless, these resources are largely untapped by the kidney community and are unavailable in individual labs or institutions. Northwestern University (NU) is home to global leaders and pioneers in nanotechnology housed in the International Institute of Nanomedicine (IIN). During the tenure of the Northwestern O'Brien Kidney Center (NU-GoKIDNEY), we leveraged this unique scientific expertise at NU to establish and optimize services that deploy the power of nanotechnology in the service of kidney researchers in their efforts to develop more effective treatments for kidney diseases. The proposed Core builds on the momentum established through the Core B nanotherapeutic services offered by NU-GoKIDNEY, which includes 1) longstanding commitment to kidney research of nanomedicine leaders at NU who served as Core leaders and members of our Executive committee, 2) demonstrated interest in nanotechnology services by kidney investigators who requested nanotechnology services and submitted P&F proposals focused on nanomedicine solutions. These established services now form the basis of the following Specific Aims: Aim 1 will establish a Biomedical Resource Core to implement a service design for precision targeting of desired payloads to specific cells and sub-regions within the kidney; Aim 2 will establish SOPs and implement internal QA/QC and SOP protocols for all services offered; Aim 3 will ensure national access to resources by multiple mechanisms, that operate in collaboration with the consortium. In summary, the NU- Biomedical Resource Core will harness the power of nanotechnology to advance kidney health and provide an easily accessed portal to Core services for investigators throughout the US.