Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Pittsburgh received a $190,404 Project Grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), effective June 1, 2026 through February 28, 2031. The award funds development and testing of a pharmacist-led population health management (PHM) intervention designed to optimize guideline-recommended medication therapy in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The research addresses a critical gap in cardio-kidney protective medication utilization, where 30-40% of U.S. adults with CKD lack angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker (ACEI/ARB) or statin therapy, and newer medications such as sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1 RA) remain significantly underutilized, particularly in nephrology-based prescribing.

The project deliverables encompass three primary objectives: (1) identifying barriers and facilitators to nephrology-based prescribing of guideline-recommended medications through stakeholder interviews; (2) developing a stakeholder-informed pharmacist-led intervention to improve medication utilization in nephrology clinics; and (3) testing the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention in a pilot trial. The resulting preliminary data will support a subsequent NIH R-level application to evaluate the effectiveness of pharmacist-led interventions at scale. This implementation science research aims to address medication therapy problems, polypharmacy management, and medication omissions commonly experienced by CKD patients in clinical practice.