Late last year, the Senate Committee on Appropriations revealed several bills that will be funded by the government throughout the 2021 fiscal year.* As advocated by the PKD Foundation, polycystic kidney disease (PKD) was included as one of 50 research topics.

Through the Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP), a grant mechanism managed by the Department of Defense, $370 million worth of funding will be available to support research on various topics, like PKD, in 2021. In total, the Department of Defense program has funded more than $34 million in PKD-specific research since 2014.

Other Committee-supported initiatives

In addition to research, the Committee also pushed for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to update the Chronic Kidney Disease Surveillance System with new data on PKD in the United States, as it was last changed in 2007. 

According to the Committee, ‘[it]…recognizes the work of [the] CDC’s CKD Surveillance System which reports on the burden of CKD, including risk factors in the U.S. population over time, and monitors the progress of efforts to prevent, detect, and manage CKD. The Committee requests an update in the fiscal year 2022 CJ on the incidence, prevalence, epidemiology, and health outcomes of polycystic kidney disease.” 

Lastly, the Committee also commended the work of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) for its creation of two PKD-focused programs, known as the Polycystic Kidney Disease Research and Translation Centers and the Pediatric Centers of Excellence in Nephrology. The Committee encouraged the agency to continue working toward the development of new treatments with new and existing partners.

The hope is that new research by the NIDDK will continue to improve our understanding of the causes of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) and autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) through the agency’s two programs.

To get involved in the PKD Foundation’s advocacy efforts, visit their website at pkdcure.org/advocacy. 

*Johnston, S. (2020, Nov. 17). PKD Research Funding Included in 2021 U.S. Federal Spending Bills. PKD Foundation. https://pkdcure.org/pkd-research-funding-included-in-2021-u-s-federal-spending-bills/