The Division and its affiliated faculty have a concerted and long-standing interest in renal epidemiology and outcomes research. Faculty from the Division have held leadership roles in the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) and in the Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center (KECC) at The University of Michigan. The coordinating center for the USRDS was based at The University of Michigan from 1995 through 1999. Since that time, faculty at the KECC continue to carry out cutting edge epidemiology and outcomes research that shapes the practice of nephrology particularly as it applies to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and pre-ESRD care. The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), the national comprehensive database registry for solid organ transplantation, is administered by this group and is the definitive database for transplant outcomes investigation.

The faculty in the KECC interact closely with the Arbor Research Collaborative for Health (formerly the University Renal Research and Education Association (URREA)), which is a not-for-profit research organization that conducts large health outcomes research studies. This organization, which co-adminsters the Transplant Registry, includes many current and past Division faculty members and manages many projects, foremost of which is the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS). This project is an on-going observational study of hemodialysis patients in twelve countries, seeking to identify dialysis practices that contribute to improved mortality rates, hospitalization rates, health related quality of life, and vascular access outcomes.

The following faculty have a particular interest in outcomes research: