The University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center (UM-KECC) is an interdisciplinary research group drawing from experts in Biostatistics, Cardiovascular Medicine, Epidemiology, Gastroenterology, Health Management and Policy, Internal Medicine, Nephrology, and Surgery.
Our mission is to promote health, improve clinical practice and patient outcomes, optimize resource utilization, and inform public policy regarding organ failure and organ transplantation; we pursue this mission through high-quality research, advances in biostatistics, and post-graduate education and training.
UM-KECC is led by Joseph Messana, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Nephrology, who is supported by over 60 full time staff members and 33 faculty investigators, with several coming from the Division of Nephrology. UM-KECC grew out of work on End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) starting in the 1980s by Friedrich K. Port and Robert A. Wolfe at the University of Michigan and the Michigan Kidney Registry and by Philip J. Held at The Urban Institute
UM-KECC was formed in 1993 when the USRDS contract from NIH moved to Michigan. Since then, UM-KECC has grown into a major research center with projects in many areas: UM-KECC current list of projects. Their projects are funded by multiple government and private sources, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Renal Research Institute, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.
