Why it exists
There is good information about polycystic kidney disease, but almost none of it is written for a fourteen-year-old. Pediatric resources speak to parents. Adult resources assume a reader managing their own care, their own insurance, and their own appointments. In between sits a teenager who has just been told something about their kidneys, and who has to work out what it means for gym class, for a friend who asks about the water bottle, for a college application three years away.
PKD Bridge is built for that reader. What is on the site is described on the home page.
How the content is made
PKD Bridge was founded and built by Audrey T., a high school student in Boston. She identified the gap in teen-facing ADPKD resources, selected the topics, wrote and coordinated the materials, and built and maintains this site. The articles and the toolkit are written for teenagers, and a pediatric nephrologist serves as clinical adviser to the project. Clinical-accuracy review of the published materials is underway and is not yet complete. Every article and toolkit document is marked with its version and the date it was last updated, so you can see which version you are reading.
Every article cites its sources. Where guidance comes from clinical literature, we say so and point to it. Where something is an individual decision between a student and their own clinician, we say that instead of guessing.
The limits stated at the bottom of every page are real limits, not boilerplate. A question about a specific student’s health belongs with that student, their family, and their own clinician. A question about a specific student’s accommodations belongs with the student, their family, and the school’s own staff.
Independence
PKD Bridge is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the PKD Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, or any other organization. Where we link to them, it is because their material is useful, not because there is a relationship. See Other resources.
The site carries no advertising and accepts no sponsorship. It sets no cookies and uses no third-party analytics. See our Privacy notice.
The protocol
PKD Bridge is described in a protocol manuscript in development for submission as a research protocol. The manuscript sets out the initiative’s design, its editorial and safeguarding procedures, and how a future pilot evaluation would measure whether the materials reach and help the people they are written for. No pilot evaluation data have been collected, and the applicable ethics-review or program-evaluation determination has not yet been obtained.
Current status
- Resource Hub: five articles available; clinical-accuracy review underway.
- School Outreach Toolkit: Version 5 available; clinical-accuracy review underway.
- Teen Voices: planned; not yet accepting submissions.
- Following the Research: available; clinical-accuracy review underway.
- Protocol manuscript in development for submission as a research protocol.
- Future collaboration and dissemination partnerships may be pursued.
Citing this site
PKD Bridge. PKDBridge.org. 2026. Accessed [date].
Replace [date] with the day you read the page.
Contact
General questions can be sent to contact@pkdbridge.org. Please do not include private medical details; PKD Bridge cannot give medical advice.