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Can virtual reality help reduce symptoms in dialysis patients?
Dr Emma Murphy, from the Centre for Care Excellence at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and Coventry University, has been awarded a £40,000 nurse start-up grant to explore whether using virtual reality (VR) can help reduce symptoms in people receiving dialysis. Nurse testing virtual reality tool Exploring a new way to reduce symptoms…
Could a new blood test identify kidney damage earlier?
New research has been published in Nature Communications, led by Dr Matthew Butler, Professor Simon Satchell and their team at the University of Bristol. The study, funded by Kidney Research UK and the Medical Research Council, shows a blood test could detect damage to the tiny blood vessels of the kidneys. These tiny blood vessels become damaged at the early stages of certain diseases, including some types of vascular and kidney disease. Blood…
Making more kidney transplants possible for everyone
Professor Florian Hollfelder from the University of Cambridge has been awarded a Professor Michael Nicholson PhD studentship grant of £108,000 to test new enzyme treatments that could reduce transplant rejection and make more donor kidneys suitable for patients. The challenge of finding a suitable match For many, a kidney transplant offers the best chance of living a…
A new approach to CMV vaccination for kidney transplant patients
Professor Matthew Reeves from University College London has been awarded a £115,000 Professor Michael Nicholson PhD studentship to develop new ways of making vaccines for human cytomegalovirus (CMV), to protect kidney transplant patients. Immune responses from vaccinations Vaccines protect us from infectious diseases by providing the immune system with information about the virus before we are…
Connecting with other patients makes life with kidney disease less lonely
Staffordshire mum, Holly Acton, was unexpectedly diagnosed with kidney disease at the age of just 28, she was thrown into an unfamiliar world of chronic illness and treatments. It was overwhelming. Now 32, she says: “I remember crying when the doctor told me I needed dialysis. It all sounded so scary. I didn’t know…
IgAN patients in Scotland to gain access to new treatment
People living in Scotland who have primary IgA nephropathy (IgAN) will be able to access a new targeted treatment on the NHS following a decision announced this week. Kidney Research UK ensured patients’ comments were considered during appraisal of the treatment – called budesonide (Kinpeygo®) – by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC). It will be made available for patients who lose at least 1g of protein in…
Preventing harm from BK virus in the kidney transplant community
Dr Simon Baker from the University of York has received a £560,000 senior fellowship in partnership with York Against Cancer, to better understand BK virus and find ways to stop it from harming transplanted kidneys. This work builds on earlier work supported by Kidney Research UK, including new research results suggesting that bladder cancer could be caused by BK virus, and ongoing research looking at new…
Could new treatments protect the kidneys and bladder in boys with posterior urethral valves?
Posterior urethral valves (PUVs) can develop in boys before they are born. PUVs are rare and affect bladder, with a proportion of boys having kidney damage, and some developing kidney failure. There is currently no cure for PUVs. With our support, generously co-funded by The Cook Fund, of £245,000, Dr Carolina Bebi and her team will test whether new treatments that target the lymphatic system of the bladder could protect the kidneys…
Using urine samples to test new gene therapy treatments for nephronophthisis
Nephronophthisis is an inherited condition which affects the kidneys. Currently there are no medications to slow or reverse the effects of nephronophthisis, and it is the most common cause of kidney failure in children and young adults. With our support, generously co-funded by The Cook Fund, of £110,000, Professor John Sayer and his team will use kidney cells from urine samples of patients with nephronophthisis to test a potential new drug treatment. We…
Could urine hold the answers for rare kidney disease diagnosis and care?
In a research study published in the Journal of Cell Science, Professor John Sayer, Dr Praveen Dhondurao Sudhindar and the team at Newcastle University, with funding from Kidney Research UK, have shown that by studying urine from patients with a rare kidney disease, called nephronophthisis, we can improve understanding of disease processes and test treatments to try and protect the kidneys. Professor John Sayer What is nephronophthisis? Nephronophthisis is an inherited condition which affects the kidneys. It is the…