The Regenerative Nephrology Program at Mayo Clinic's campus in Jacksonville, Florida, offers regenerative care for people with kidney disease who may benefit from advanced or investigational treatments. Along with standard kidney care, the program offers regenerative approaches that aim to support kidney repair and recovery.
What is regenerative nephrology?
Regenerative nephrology is an emerging area of kidney care that focuses on helping your kidneys heal and recover. While standard kidney care works to slow kidney disease and manage symptoms, regenerative nephrology uses advanced and investigational treatments, such as stem cell therapy, to help repair kidney damage and preserve kidney function. Many of these treatments are still being studied and may not be appropriate for everyone.
Regenerative nephrology does not replace standard kidney care. Instead, it may be offered in addition to standard care for some patients.
Who may benefit from regenerative nephrology care?
Regenerative care may be an option for people with certain kidney diseases or related conditions when the goal is to repair, protect or preserve kidney function. Whether this care may help you depends on several factors, including the type and severity of your kidney disease, your overall health and the specific treatment being considered. A kidney specialist reviews these factors to decide whether a regenerative approach may be appropriate for you.
Team-based kidney care at Mayo Clinic
At Mayo Clinic's Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, people with chronic kidney disease and other kidney conditions receive care from an experienced team focused on protecting kidney health and slowing disease.
Your care team may include kidney doctors (nephrologists), nurse practitioners, physician assistants, transplant specialists, nurses, dietitians and other experts who work together to coordinate your care. As part of this team-based approach, you may be referred to the Regenerative Nephrology Program in Florida when advanced or investigational treatments may be an option.
Expanded access stem cell therapy at Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic has received authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to offer an investigational mesenchymal stem cell therapy to eligible adults with chronic kidney disease or a failing kidney transplant. This treatment is available through the FDA's Expanded Access Program, sometimes called compassionate use, which allows certain patients to receive treatment outside of a clinical trial.
Your healthcare professional may refer you to Mayo Clinic's Regenerative Nephrology Compassionate Use Program. You also may contact the program directly to learn whether this treatment may be an option for you. Email regenerativenephrology@mayo.edu or call 507-255-7975.
Mesenchymal stem cells are special adult cells that can be collected from bone marrow, fat or the umbilical cord and its blood. In December 2024, the FDA approved a mesenchymal stem cell therapy for children with a serious condition called steroid-refractory graft-versus-host disease. This condition can occur after a stem cell transplant when donor cells attack the body and steroid medicines no longer work.
Is this stem cell therapy FDA approved?
Mesenchymal stem cell therapy is not FDA approved to treat kidney disease. But early research suggests it may help support kidney health in some people. Mesenchymal cells release helpful signals, also called factors, to other cells in the body. These signals may help the kidneys in several ways:
- Lower inflammation in the body and the kidneys.
- Help protect and support healthy kidney cells.
- Slow changes in the kidneys that may lead to scarring over time.
Kidney research and clinical trials at Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic physician-scientists lead kidney research focused on improving kidney health and quality of life for people with kidney disease. You may have the option to take part in a clinical trial at Mayo Clinic. Talk with your care team about whether a clinical trial might be right for you.
Research areas include:
- Assessing the safety and effectiveness of regenerative therapies for chronic kidney disease.
- Studying stem cell or kidney progenitor cell therapies in people who have kidney disease, with or without diabetes.
Mayo Clinic also is taking part in a clinical trial that is testing a new treatment called renal autologous cell therapy (REACT) for people with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. The treatment uses a patient's own kidney cells. The cells are collected, grown in a lab and then injected back into the kidneys. Researchers are studying whether this approach may help protect kidney function and slow kidney damage over time.