The USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center (KRC) was named in Sept. 2012 with a gift pledge of $3.5 million from the University Kidney Research Organization (UKRO), a Los Angeles based philanthropic group. Remodeling of the top two stories of the Mudd Memorial Research Building occurred in 2015 through support from the Keck School of Medicine, thereby creating the 5,000+ sq. ft of research and office space comprising the KRC, which opened in September, 2015. The onboarding of the new KRC Director, Kenneth R. Hallows, MD, PhD, who is an internationally recognized nephrology physician-scientist, brought the center into operation. Since then, we have assembled a growing team of dedicated researchers, physician scientists, and administrative staff.