Clinicopathologic studies are facilitated by one of the largest renal biopsy referral services in the country and a collaborative agreement with over 200 practicing nephrologists who have agreed to enroll their patients in prospective controlled clinical trials. Of value for clinicopathologic research is a computerized data base into which clinical, laboratory and pathologic data from all renal biopsy patients are entered prospectively. This data base has over 60 fields of data on each record, and already contains data from more than 6,000 patients.
In my laboratory, basic research into the immune pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis and vasculitis employs both in vitro and in vivo technologies, using experimental animals and humans as subjects and sources of materials. At the present time, the major focus of my laboratory is on the role of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies in the pathogenesis of vascular injury, including glomerulonephritis and vasculitis. Techniques used in this research include leukocyte isolation and culture, endothelial cell culture, monoclonal antibody production, gene clonining and expression, animal model induction, in vitro assays of neutrophil and mononuclear phagocyte function, immunohistology, immunoelectron microscopy, Western blotting, enzyme immunoassay and other immunologic techniques.

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