PKD News
Dr. Vincent H. Gattone
January 31, 2014
Vincent H. Gattone, Ph.D., anatomist and PKD researcher, passed away on January 26. His research focused on renal cystic diseases, including polycystic kidney disease. His efforts have affected the lives of thousands of PKD patients because he did the initial testing of a tolvaptan precursor in rodent models of cystic disease in early 2002, which has eventually led to the tolvaptan clinical trial.
Dr. Gattone was closely associated with the PKD Foundation for a number of years, serving on our Scientific Advisory Committee for the last six years. He was also the Director of the Electron Microscopy Core at Indiana University School of Medicine, one of the Foundation's Core Labs, and a professor of anatomy and cell biology at Indiana University School of Medicine. He previously held faculty positions at Penn State University and University of Kansas Medical School. Dr. Gattone loved teaching anatomy and research ethics. He received numerous awards and distinctions for research and teaching, most recently the Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize for the Advancement in the Understanding of PKD, from the PKD Foundation and International Society of Nephrology.
He was passionate about his family. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Diane, and their five children: Jennifer, Christina, Anthony, Nicholas and Catherine.
To make a tribute gift in honor of Dr. Gattone, visit pkdcure.org/donate and select the tribute option at the bottom of the page.
January 22, 2014
We're kicking off 2014 with a new logo to position the PKD Foundation as a contemporary, forward-looking organization. The new brand will strengthen the mission and visibility of the organization as we work to elevate awareness. More importantly, it will distinguish the Foundation as the leader in the fight to end PKD.
Read more about our new look.
Voices of PKD
Polycystic kidney disease is a family disease. Like freckles and blue eyes, there's a chance that a parent will pass it along to their child. Though Barbara Meskin's family had passed along PKD for many generations, she had no idea that the family disease would impact her right when she was starting a family of her own.
"I shouldn't have been surprised," Barbara said. "But I was."
Initially Barbara was going in to receive an ultrasound as a screening procedure for an insurance policy. At the time she was pregnant with her second child. The ultrasound confirmed her fear that she too had PKD, and the even more immanent fear that she could pass it on to the child she was carrying.
Read Barbara's Story