Dr. Dominic Raj Lab

The Dominic Raj Laboratory is a member of the Division of Kidney Diseases and Hypertension within the Department of Medicine at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) affects more than 20 million adults in the US; an additional 20 million are at increased risk for developing CKD, and an estimated 80,000 people are diagnosed annually. CKD is the 9^th leading cause of death in the US. With the increasing number of US population with obesity, diabetes and hypertension, prevalence of CKD will continue to rise in coming years and decade. The presence of kidney disease is associated with higher morbidity and mortality and increased health care utilization. Financial costs related to caring for these patients is formidable and annually on the rise. The consequence of CKD extends beyond health care economics with profound impact on quality of life and productivity. Despite enormous amount of funds diverted to the care of ESRD patients their outcome has not improved.

Our research team is dedicated to understanding the role of blood pressure control in reducing cardiovascular and renal outcomes and improving health of patients with CKD though biomarker discovery, laboratory-based mechanistic studies and targeted intervention to slow progression of CKD and CVD.

Our research is supported continuously since 2003 by NIDDK, NHLBI and other non-profit organization to study mitochondrial energetics, muscle protein synthesis, genetics of inflammation and optimal blood pressure targets. We are part of the Hemodialysis Novel Interventions Consortium and Pilot Studies in CKD consortium, established by NIDDK to discover innovative high impact treatments for patients with kidney disease.