Kidney Disease
Multidisciplinary teams at TRI are working on understanding and improving diagnosis and treatments of kidney conditions including chronic kidney disease and diabetic kidney disease.
Chronic kidney disease affects 11.5% of the Australian community and is one of the few diseases in which mortality rates are worsening over time. The condition directly, or indirectly, contributes to the deaths of 13.5% of Australians; more than deaths due to breast cancer, bowel cancer, prostate cancer, suicide and motor vehicle accidents combined.
The Centre for Kidney Disease Research (CKDR) is a University of Queensland centre based at the Translational Research Institute. CKDR researchers are working at the forefront of global trends in research to understand the cellular and molecular basis of kidney disease and to trial innovative new clinical treatments to improve the health and well-being of people with kidney disease. The Centre is headed by Prof David Johnson and A/Prof Glenda Gobe.
Prof Johnson is a leading Nephrologist and clinical researcher, working with his team at the Princess Alexandra Hospital to investigate how to:
- develop cheap and novel solutions to prevent progressive kidney scarring and failure
- reduce the risk of heart disease and serious infections in dialysis patients
- prevent diabetes after kidney transplantation
- increase the lifespan of a kidney transplant; and
- best provide dialysis to patients with end-stage kidney failure.
A/Prof Glenda Gobe leads a multi-disciplinary team of lab-based researchers that include cell and molecular biologists, clinician scientists, veterinarians and biological engineers. Her team is investigating:
- the molecular pathways of kidney disease, especially for acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease, including biomarker discovery and oxidative stress damage and modulation
- characterisation of control of apoptosis in kidney cancers, especially metastatic cancers that are resistant to current therapies; and
- renal fibrosis, its molecular pathways, and development of gene therapies for its control, especially in kidney disease.
Diabetic Kidney Disease
Mater-UQ's Professor Josephine Forbes is also working with her team to investigate ways to prevent progression of diabetic kidney disease by targeting mitochondrial function. Read more.
