Jacqueline Ho, MD

Dr. Ho’s laboratory has demonstrated a crucial requirement for miRNAs in several lineages of the developing kidney, including nephron progenitors (which give rise to all the epithelial components of the nephron except the collecting duct), the renal stroma and podocytes (specialized epithelial cells that are essential in the glomerular filtration barrier). They have described the first miRNA cluster associated with renal developmental defects and kidney disease, the miR-17~92 cluster. More recently, Dr. Ho’s laboratory has begun evaluating the role of specific miRNAs in the setting of acute kidney injury and diabetic nephropathy. The laboratory has significant expertise in high-throughput transcriptional profiling, the bioinformatics analysis of mis-regulated signaling pathways, developmental biology, and transgenic mouse models. Dr. Ho is actively involved in teaching and research training of medical students, graduate students, residents, postdoctoral fellows and clinical fellows in pediatric nephrology. The laboratory strives to provide an optimal training environment for trainees to acquire the intellectual and technical skills required to establish an independent investigative career in genitourinary developmental biology and disease.