HYCARDS STUDY

The HYCARDS (“Hypothyroidism, Cardiovascular Health, and Survival in Kidney Disease”) Study is an NIH/NIDDK K23-supported project examining the association between thyroid functional test alterations and specific coronary artery disease surrogates and mortality in chronic kidney disease patients independent of malnutrition, inflammation, and uremia using a combination of prospective and retrospective cohorts (Principal Investigator: Dr. Connie M. Rhee).

LEVO-D STUDY

The LEVO-D (“A Pilot Feasibility Trial of Thyroid Hormone Replacement in Dialysis Patients”) Study is an NIH/NIDDK R03-supported project determining the feasibility and efficacy of levothyroxine in achieving target thyrotropin levels in hemodialysis patients (Principal Investigator: Dr. Connie M. Rhee).

OPTIMAL STUDY

The OPTIMAL (“Hypothyroidism, Cardiovascular Health, and Survival in Kidney Disease”) Study is an NIH/NIDDK R01-supported project that aims to determine the comparative effectiveness of conservative management vs. dialysis transition on hard outcomes and patient-centered endpoints in advanced chronic kidney disease patients, and to also develop clinical prediction models that will identify which patients will most benefit from conservative dialysis-free treatment (Contact Principal Investigator: Dr. Connie M. Rhee; Multiple Principal Investigator: Dr. Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh).

MADRAD STUDY

The MADRAD (“Malnutrition, Diet and Racial Disparities in Chronic Kidney Disease”) Study is an NIH/NIDDK K24-supported project with the overarching objective of mentoring early-career investigators in research related to renal nutrition and metabolism, as well as racial/ethnic differences in nutritional/metabolic states and food intake and their link to outcomes (Principal Investigator: Dr. Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh; Co-investigator: Dr. Connie M. Rhee).

AIONID STUDY

The AIONID (“Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Oxidative Nutrition in Dialysis Patients”) Study was an NIH/NIDDK R21-supported pilot/feasibility randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial with a 2x2 factorial design randomizing patients to two oral nutritional supplements (Nepro, Oxepa) vs. placebo and an appetite-stimulating agent vs. placebo in hemodialysis patients with serum albumin levels <3.8 g/dl (Principal Investigator: Dr. Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh).