Alport Syndrome (AS) is a major cause of end stage renal disease (ESRD) which is now a recognized public health issue worldwide and an important contributor to global disease burden. Early identification and intervention to prevent AS progression will improve outcomes. A novel Podometric technology developed by the Wiggins laboratory at Michigan Medicine has the potential to be able to define the risk for progression to ESRD. The Alport Syndrome Prevention of Progression (ASPOP) project will integrate a large well-characterized database-driven genetically-defined AS cohort developed and managed at a state-of-the-art facility at Peking University First Hospital under the direction of Dr. Jie Ding with novel podometric technology developed to identify and prevent progression of glomerular diseases developed by the Wiggins laboratory at Michigan medicine. It is anticipated that the combination of an unusually large cohort of AS patients managed by genetic and other approaches together with a novel technological approach towards preventative management will offer opportunities for obtaining competitive funding through national and international structures.

• 194 samples were collected from PKUHSC (133 urine samples, 61 kidney biopsies); all samples collected are kept in Beijing, only processed biopsy images and data from urine mRNA quantitation were sent to Ann Arbor for joint analyses.
• 1 PhD student from PKUHSC received extensive training at Michigan Medicine.
• 2 abstracts were presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s annual meeting and Chinese Pediatrics Society’s annual meeting.

1. Ding F, Wickman L, Wang SQ,… Ding J, Wiggins RC. (2017) Accelerated podocyte detachment and progressive podocyte loss from glomeruli with age in Alport Syndrome. Kidney Int. 2017 Jul 26. pii: S0085-2538(17)30357-5. doi: 10.1016/j.kint.2017.05.017