Our kidneys are vital to our wellbeing, helping to filter our blood and eliminate waste products.
If kidney disease is found early enough, medication, dietary and lifestyle changes can help; but once the disease is advanced, ongoing dialysis may be needed to regularly remove waste and fluid from the body or a successful kidney transplant can help achieve longer-term quality of life.
Together with our Group charity Kidney Transplant & Diabetes Research Australia, we are committed to finding new ways to treat kidney disease, enhance organ transplantation and ultimately eliminate this disease from our community.
Kidney Disease Support
Investigating how to best manage a patient 24 hours after a kidney transplant.Â
Dr Karthik Venkataraman hopes to establish whether more intensive support in the first 24 hours will lead to better post-operative (and long-term) kidney function.
Supporting the Central and Northern Adelaide Renal and Transplantation Service (CNARTS) Group to develop a database to enable more research and improve the care given to those with kidney disease, on dialysis and transplant patients.
The CNARTS team is one of the largest renal units in Australia, with the database benefitting medical, research and audit work.
Researching the challenges faced by women with kidney disease to become pregnant and have successful pregnancies, and using these insights to produce educational resources to support women in their journey to become mothers.
Researcher
Associate Professor Shilpa Jesudason is helping women with kidney disease make informed decisions and better plan and manage their pregnancies.
Finding ways to protect immunocompromised transplant recipients from COVID-19, as their antibody response to vaccines is 1000-fold lower than average.
The study showed that households of kidney transplant patients should be prioritised for COVID booster vaccinations, to add a layer of protection known as ‘ring vaccination’ to protect immunocompromised individuals.
Investigating new ways to avoid the need for anti-rejection medications for transplant patients by targeting the immune cells responsible for organ rejection.
Researcher
Dr Sebastian Stead hopes his research will eliminate the debilitating side effects from anti-rejection medication.
Researching the potential for nutrition interventions for kidney transplant recipients to improve their overall gut health and aid recovery.
The gut symptoms of up to 250 people with kidney disease are being monitored as part of the study. If the research identifies gaps where we could intervene to improve patient’s overall gut health through nutrition, this is one less symptom they have to live with.
Protecting people against kidney damage from excessive salt intake by investigating the role a Nedd4-2 gene plays in people with kidney disease who are deficient in this gene.
Researcher
Professor Sharad Kumar (left) has found that a high salt diet drastically exacerbates kidney disease in pre-clinical studies for subjects deficient in the Nedd4-2 gene.
Examining ways to prevent the pain and trauma experienced by dialysis patients when having their needles inserted and complications arising with their AV fistula connection.
Other dialysis support includes art therapy, special exercise bikes, and the need for a sustainable renal workforce.
