Scholars@Duke
Opeyemi Olabisi

Opeyemi Olabisi

Associate Professor of Medicine
Medicine, Nephrology

Selected Publications

Hybrid Community-EHR Approaches to APOL1 Kidney Disease Screening and Clinical Trials among Black Individuals.

Journal Article J Am Soc Nephrol · March 3, 2026 BACKGROUND: Black individuals bear a disproportionate burden of kidney diseases, including genetically mediated risk related to Apolipoprotein L1 ( APOL1 ) gene variants. Awareness of APOL1-mediated kidney disease (AMKD) and participation in therapeutic tr ... Full text Link to item Cite

APOL1 kidney disease: conclusions from a Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Controversies Conference.

Journal Article Kidney Int · November 2025 In people of African ancestry, apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1) variants have been identified as causing increased risk of progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD). In April of 2024, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) convened a Controversies ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Human Glomerular Disease Atlas defines the APOL1-JAK-STAT feed forward loop in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

Journal Article medRxiv · September 19, 2025 To map transcriptional programs in rare glomerular diseases, single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNAseq) on kidney biopsies (N=120) from the Nephrotic Syndrome Study Network were integrated with snRNAseq and single-cell sequencing (scRNAseq) of reference kidn ... Full text Link to item Cite

Alterations in DNA Methylation, Proteomic, and Metabolomic Profiles in African Ancestry Populations with APOL1 Risk Alleles.

Journal Article J Am Soc Nephrol · April 7, 2025 KEY POINTS: We aimed to elucidate potential methylation, proteomic, and metabolomic mechanisms by which APOL1 variants may be linked to kidney disease. We report distinct methylation profiling between APOL1 risk allele carriers and noncarriers, many near A ... Full text Link to item Cite

Should We Systematically Screen for the Amyloidogenic V142I Variant?

Journal Article J Card Fail · January 2025 Is it time to employ systematic genetic screening for V142I transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis? Strategic research programs are needed to fill evidence gaps before meaningful and equitable implementation can begin to reduce health disparities and improve mo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Has APOL1 kidney disease treatment been hiding in plain sight?

Journal Article Kidney Int · December 2024 Two coding variants of APOL1 account for much of the excess risk of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in people of recent West African ancestry. There is an unmet need of treatment for apolipoprotein L1 kidney disease. In this issue, Sula Karreci et al. r ... Full text Link to item Cite

APOL1 Variant and Kidney Disease-Reply.

Journal Article JAMA · September 24, 2024 Full text Link to item Cite

Design and Rationale of the Phase 2 Baricitinib Study in Apolipoprotein L1-Mediated Kidney Disease (JUSTICE).

Journal Article Kidney Int Rep · September 2024 INTRODUCTION: Individuals of recent West African ancestry develop focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and hypertension-attributed end-stage kidney disease (HTN-ESKD) at 4 times the rate of White Americans. Two protein-coding variants of the Apolipopr ... Full text Link to item Cite

APOL1 High-Risk Genotype is Not Associated With New or Worsening of Proteinuria or Kidney Function Decline Following COVID-19 Vaccination.

Journal Article Kidney Int Rep · September 2024 INTRODUCTION: SARS-CoV-2 infection increases systemic inflammatory cytokines which act as a second-hit driver of Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1)-mediated collapsing glomerulopathy. SARS-CoV-2 vaccination also increases cytokines. Recent reports of new glomerular ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Pediatric contributions and lessons learned from the NEPTUNE cohort study.

Journal Article Pediatr Nephrol · September 2024 Primary glomerular diseases are rare entities. This has hampered efforts to better understand the underlying pathobiology and to develop novel safe and effective therapies. NEPTUNE is a rare disease network that is focused on patients of all ages with mini ... Full text Link to item Cite

Rationale and design of the Nephrotic Syndrome Study Network (NEPTUNE) Match in glomerular diseases: designing the right trial for the right patient, today.

Journal Article Kidney Int · February 2024 Glomerular diseases are classified using a descriptive taxonomy that is not reflective of the heterogeneous underlying molecular drivers. This limits not only diagnostic and therapeutic patient management, but also impacts clinical trials evaluating target ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

APOL1-mediated monovalent cation transport contributes to APOL1-mediated podocytopathy in kidney disease.

Journal Article J Clin Invest · January 16, 2024 Two coding variants of apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1), called G1 and G2, explain much of the excess risk of kidney disease in African Americans. While various cytotoxic phenotypes have been reported in experimental models, the proximal mechanism by which G1 and ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The association of low birthweight and prematurity on outcomes in children and adults with nephrotic syndrome-a NEPTUNE cohort study.

Journal Article Pediatr Nephrol · October 2023 BACKGROUND: In single-center studies, both preterm birth and low birth weight (LBW) are associated with worse outcomes in childhood nephrotic syndrome. Using the Nephrotic Syndrome Study Network (NEPTUNE) observational cohort, we tested the hypothesis that ... Full text Link to item Cite

Use of Race in Kidney Function Estimation: Lessons Learned and the Path Toward Health Justice.

Journal Article Annu Rev Med · January 27, 2023 In 2020, the nephrology community formally interrogated long-standing race-based clinical algorithms used in the field, including the kidney function estimation equations. A comprehensive understanding of the history of kidney function estimation and racia ... Full text Link to item Cite

Race, Ancestry, and Genetic Risk for Kidney Failure.

Journal Article Am J Kidney Dis · December 2022 Full text Link to item Cite

Etiology of Persistent Microalbuminuria in Nigeria (P_MICRO study): protocol and study design.

Journal Article BMC Infect Dis · July 4, 2022 BACKGROUND: Microalbuminuria is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular and kidney disease and a predictor of end organ damage, both in the general population and in persons with HIV (PWH). Microalbuminuria is also an important risk factor for mortal ... Full text Link to item Cite

JAK inhibitor blocks COVID-19 cytokine-induced JAK/STAT/APOL1 signaling in glomerular cells and podocytopathy in human kidney organoids.

Journal Article JCI Insight · June 8, 2022 COVID-19 infection causes collapse of glomerular capillaries and loss of podocytes, culminating in a severe kidney disease called COVID-19-associated nephropathy (COVAN). The underlying mechanism of COVAN is unknown. We hypothesized that cytokines induced ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Research Priorities for Kidney-Related Research-An Agenda to Advance Kidney Care: A Position Statement From the National Kidney Foundation.

Journal Article Am J Kidney Dis · February 2022 Despite the high prevalence and economic burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the United States, federal funding for kidney-related research, prevention, and education activities under the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseas ... Full text Link to item Cite

ApoL1 Genotype in African American Patients with Kidney Neoplasm

Conference LABORATORY INVESTIGATION · 2022 Cite

Diagnosis, Education, and Care of Patients with APOL1-Associated Nephropathy: A Delphi Consensus and Systematic Review.

Journal Article J Am Soc Nephrol · July 2021 BACKGROUND: APOL1 variants contribute to the markedly higher incidence of ESKD in Blacks compared with Whites. Genetic testing for these variants in patients with African ancestry who have nephropathy is uncommon, and no specific treatment or management pr ... Full text Link to item Cite

APOL1-associated kidney disease in northern Nigerians with treated HIV infection.

Journal Article Kidney Int · July 2021 Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) high-risk genotypes strongly associate with HIV-associated nephropathy, and antiretroviral therapy reduces the incidence of HIV-associated nephropathy and progression to end-stage kidney disease. Wudil et al. report cross-sectiona ... Full text Link to item Cite

Kidney Disease-Associated APOL1 Variants Have Dose-Dependent, Dominant Toxic Gain-of-Function.

Journal Article J Am Soc Nephrol · September 2020 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Two coding renal risk variants (RRVs) of the APOL1 gene (G1 and G2) are associated with large increases in CKD rates among populations of recent African descent, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. Mammalian cell culture models ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The Role of Vitamin D and Oxidative Stress in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Journal Article Int J Environ Res Public Health · November 30, 2018 Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major non-communicable disease associated with high rates of premature morbidity and mortality. The prevalence of hypovitaminosis D (deficiency of 25(OH)D or 25D) is greater in racial/ethnic minorities and in patients with ... Full text Link to item Cite

APOL1 Nephrotoxicity: What Does Ion Transport Have to Do With It?

Journal Article Semin Nephrol · November 2017 Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) protein is the human serum factor that protect human beings against Trypanosoma brucei brucei, the cause of trypanosomiasis. Subspecies of T b brucei that cause human sleeping sickness-T b gambiense and T b rhodesiense evolved mol ... Full text Link to item Cite

APOL1 kidney disease risk variants cause cytotoxicity by depleting cellular potassium and inducing stress-activated protein kinases.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · January 26, 2016 Featured Publication Two specific genetic variants of the apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) gene are responsible for the high rate of kidney disease in people of recent African ancestry. Expression in cultured cells of these APOL1 risk variants, commonly referred to as G1 and G2, resu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Ablation of calcineurin Aβ reveals hyperlipidemia and signaling cross-talks with phosphodiesterases.

Journal Article J Biol Chem · February 1, 2013 Insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, and cardiovascular complications are common dysregulations of metabolic syndrome. Transplant patients treated with immunosuppressant drugs such as cyclosporine A (CsA), an inhibitor of calcineurin phosphatase, frequently ... Full text Link to item Cite

Assay for protein modification by poly-ADP-ribose in vitro.

Journal Article Methods Mol Biol · 2011 The enzymatic function of poly(adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribose) polymerase (PARP) is central to many of its function as a component of DNA repair machinery, modulator of gene transcription, and cell differentiation. While the auto-modification domain of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Evolutionarily conserved role of calcineurin in phosphodegron-dependent degradation of phosphodiesterase 4D.

Journal Article Mol Cell Biol · September 2010 Calcineurin is a widely expressed and highly conserved Ser/Thr phosphatase. Calcineurin is inhibited by the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporine A (CsA) or tacrolimus (FK506). The critical role of CsA/FK506 as an immunosuppressant following transplantation ... Full text Link to item Cite

Regulation of transcription factor NFAT by ADP-ribosylation.

Journal Article Mol Cell Biol · May 2008 ADP-ribosylation is a reversible posttranslational modification mediated by poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP). The results of recent studies demonstrate that ADP-ribosylation contributes to transcription regulation. Here, we report that transcription facto ... Full text Link to item Cite

Role of transcription factor NFAT in glucose and insulin homeostasis.

Journal Article Mol Cell Biol · October 2006 Compromised immunoregulation contributes to obesity and complications in metabolic pathogenesis. Here, we demonstrate that the nuclear factor of activated T cell (NFAT) group of transcription factors contributes to glucose and insulin homeostasis. Expressi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cocaine acts on accumbens monoamines and locomotor behavior via a 5-HT2A/2C receptor mechanism as shown by ketanserin: 24-h follow-up studies.

Journal Article Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry · May 2004 It is well known that cocaine's psychomotor stimulant properties derive from enhanced monoamines via synaptic transporter/reuptake inhibition and release mechanisms. However, to further understand mechanisms of action for cocaine, which may be receptor-rel ... Full text Link to item Cite

From man to fish: What can Zebrafish tell us about ApoL1 nephropathy?

Journal Article Clin Nephrol BACKGROUND: Risk variant Apolipoprotein L1 (G1/G2) are strongly associated with a spectrum of kidney disease in people of recent African descent. The mechanism of ApoL1 nephropathy is unknown. Podocytes and/or endothelial cells are the presumed target kidn ... Full text Link to item Cite