Phoenix - Polycystic kidney disease | PKD treatment research

With the help of our communities in cities across the country and beyond, we provide a forum for patients who want to join in the fight to find treatments and cure for PKD.

Connect with us to find out how you can make a difference in the lives of thousands in the U.S. and millions worldwide.

Walk for PKD - Your Way

Walk for PKD - Your Way! is an opportunity to join the nationwide Walk for PKD community in a way that caters to your schedule and interests while keeping things simple. Walk for PKD - Your Way! offers you the freedom to choose – how, when, and where you Walk for PKD. Participate as an individual or a team of loved ones, select a date and decide how you are going to Walk for PKD Your Way. How you raise awareness and funds for PKD research is up to you!

If you have questions, or would like to help with next year's walk, please reach out to us at walkforpkd@pkdcure.org.

Walk for PKD

Get Involved

Are you interested in helping us grow the Phoenix Community?

We are looking for volunteers to help us offer more opportunities in your local area. If you are interested in this opportunity to volunteer and further our shared vision to #endPKD, please complete our volunteer form and let us know how you would like to get involved.

If you have questions, please email us at volunteers@pkdcure.org.

If you have questions, or would like to help with next year's walk, please reach out to us at walkforpkd@pkdcure.org.

Now, as always, the PKD Foundation is committed to our mission of giving hope, advocating for patients, and building a community for all impacted by PKD. We'll continue supporting our community by providing important resources and timely updates on social media. If you have questions or need help navigating this unprecedented health crisis, we are here for you. Email or call (844) PKD-HOPE.

Peer Mentorship Program

If you’re looking for a shoulder to lean on or want to help others from the safety of your home, our Peer Mentor Program is a great resource:

Interested in connecting with a mentor? Please take a moment to fill out our mentee survey and our team will follow up with you via email or by phone.
Interested in becoming a peer mentor? Please complete our mentor application and a member of our staff will follow up with you by email or by phone.

Centers of Excellence

The PKD Foundation is excited to the announce the newest cohort of Centers of Excellence, Partner Clinics, and Pediatric Clinics. If you are looking for the right healthcare providers to help you manage living with PKD, visit our Centers of Excellence page to learn more about the program and to find a Center of Excellence, Partner Clinic, or Pediatric Clinic.

About Our Centers of Excellence

ADPKD Registry

There’s a new way ADPKD Registry participants can step up to provide hope today, and for future generations. The nation’s first dedicated ADPKD Registry is now also one of the first patient registries of any kind to integrate patient-provided health records. Share your health records through your provider’s online portal with a few simple steps on the ADPKD Registry.

The ADPKD Registry

Masara Azooz

PKD Connect Ambassador

Masara is a junior undergraduate student at Arizona State University pursuing a bachelor of science in Pharmacology/Toxicology. She initially started out on the pre-pharmacy track, but came into the realization after 2 years of retail pharmacy experience at CVS that she would feel the most fulfilled and compelled if she was the first healthcare professional to hear a patient’s story-so that in return-she would be able to devise a patient centered plan reducing many discrepancies she encountered in her earlier career.

Now, she holds a position as an emergency room scribe in which she feels much ecstatic to experience medicine at its core. Her strive to better patient’s lives doesn’t stop here but is continued through her ongoing research project that tests a drug for its ability to increase reproductive longevity.

Her path to joining the PKD foundation was inspired by past encounters with troubled PKD patients that were in a clouded mental state. As an aspiring physician and perhaps a nephrologist, these short-lived snapshots quickly transitioned her into the climax of her future endeavors- function as a fruitful resource and mentor for kidney patients and her prospective patients. She and her parents, including two sisters, live in Arizona and love to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible

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Risa Simon

PKD Connect Ambassador

Risa Simon is a fierce patient advocate who is dedicated to empowering PKD patients at every turn. Whether she’s speaking, writing, mentoring or volunteering for the PKD Foundation, the National Kidney Foundation or the American Association of Kidney Patients, her inspirational message touches the hearts of both professional and patient audiences.

Of course, it wasn’t until she was diagnosed with the same disease that took her father in his early 40s, and put her brother on dialysis in his late 30’s, that she decided to join the PKD community as a life-long student. What she learned dramatically changed her trajectory.

Now celebrating nearly 13 years as a preemptive transplant recipient (from a living, unrelated kidney donor), she spends the majority of her time giving back by helping fellow kidney patients seek their best life possible. The life she now lives.

You may know Risa as a conference speaker, transplant industry consultant, PKD peer mentor, advocate, author and video producer—or, as the creator of the new mobile app “DONOR SEEKER.” For those who don’t know Risa, she looks forward to learning more about your PKD journey at a future Phoenix Chapter meeting or PKDConnect conference.

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