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Hani Suleiman, M.D., PhD
NephCure Young Investigator Career Development Awardee
Hani Suleiman's fascination with the kidney glomerulus started 10 years ago as a PhD. student when he first learned about the glomerular filtration barrier, its fine components with their elaborate morphology, and the central role they play in various kidney diseases. During that period, he gained the basic knowledge about the imaging techniques used in the kidney field. Coming from medical background, he learned to recognize the significance of basic research approaches as essential tools for answering the important questions about the etiology of kidney diseases.
St. Louis, Missouri
Washington University
Lay Summary of the Project:
New ‘visualization’ techniques are needed to understand better how the glomerular filtration barrier of the kidney works. Dr. Suleiman is adapting a new superresolution imaging technique to generate more refined images of podocyte foot processes to provide insight into how the glomerular basement membrane is organized. He will examine the organization of molecules in podocyte foot process effacement, which is the typical response of these cells to injury, and investigate whether the nature of foot process effacement differs in various diseases such as diabetic nephropathy, minimal change disease and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. If subcategories of different types of foot process effacement are found with superresolution microscopy, this could lead to new insights into the mechanism that cause these diseases as well as better diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
