Did you know that an estimated 1.7 million Australians aged 18 and over are living with chronic kidney disease (CKD)? In 2020, CKD contributed to 17,700 deaths which is a staggering 11% of all deaths in Australia. The Nephrology Department at Prince of Wales is staffed with internationally renowned renal clinicians who provide holistic care through a multidisciplinary team of specialists that include nephrologists, transplant and access surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, allied health (social work, dieticians, pharmacists) and administration staff.
Supported by the Lewis Foundation, the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation funded the regions first unique Kidney Biobank for acute and chronic kidney disease. This biorepository of patient tissue, samples and linked clinical data from patients with kidney disease is providing a strategic resource for fundamental and translational research.
Living with CKD is challenging and patients who require a kidney transplant, face the daily reality of taking immunosuppressive drugs to avoid organ rejection. Unfortunately, whilst necessary to counter rejection of the kidney, some can cause kidney toxicity, as is the case for Calcineurin Inhibitor (e.g. Tacrolimus). Damage biomarkers can detect drug toxicity and therefore help with early detection of subclinical nephrotoxic injury. The Foundation recently funded a study to evaluate the role of more precise and reliable markers of kidney function and other damage markers in the diagnosis of kidney injury. The TransTox Study, led by Amy Yoke Mooi and supported by Dr Camila Eleuterio Rodrigues and Prof Zoltan Endre has already led to a new kidney biomarker being implemented in the hope of providing kidney transplant patients with better graft survival due to better drug management. We are excited to share further updates about the impact of the TransTox Study with you in the future.
