Friday, April 4, 2025
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ag Life Sciences Room 4001 and Zoom
Leveraging Zebrafish to Investigate Emerging Kidney Disease Epidemic in Tropical Farming Communities
Nishad Jayasundara, PhD
Juli Plant Grainger Assistant Professor of Global Environmental Health
Duke University
Environmental exposures, including chemical contaminants and heat stress, pose a major risk to kidney health, particularly contributing to an emerging epidemic of chronic kidney disease in tropical farming communities. I will discuss our community-engaged, bench-to-bedside approach investigating how these exposures contribute to disease onset and progression in impacted communities and will highlight the use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a mechanistic model and a screening tool to inform adult and pediatric cohort studies.