Overview
Nephrology is a specialty of medicine focused on the study of normal kidney function, kidney disease and renal replacement therapy (dialysis and kidney transplantation). Nephrologists provide medical care to people with kidney disease, including those on dialysis and those with kidney transplants. Many scientists conducting nephrology research also provide medical care for patients while teaching and training students.
Researchers at London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) are striving to find new ways to improve the health of renal patients and better deliver care. This work includes both laboratory-based and clinical research.
Research Groups
Nephrology research at LHSCRI includes research happening through the Kidney Clinical Research Unit as well as the following research groups:
LHSCRI has a comprehensive renal transplantation program which includes studies examining autoimmune diseases, including diabetes and lupus kidney disease, and the prevention of kidney transplant rejection. For more information, visit the Kidney Transplant webpage on LHSC’s website.
Located at Children’s Hospital at LHSC, the Paediatric Nephrology and Hypertension Program was established in 1992. The mission of the program is to:
- Deliver optimal care to children in southwestern Ontario and parts of northern and central Ontario who suffer from acute and chronic kidney disease, congenital abnormalities and hypertension;
- Maintain a multidisciplinary childhood end-stage renal disease program including renal replacement therapies; and
- Foster the development of an integrated laboratory-based and clinical research program focusing on the understanding of biology and mechanisms of childhood kidney disease and hypertension.
Areas of research include epidemiology of childhood kidney disease; measurement of kidney function; strategies for slowing progression of chronic kidney disease; dialysis adequacy, etiology and treatment of hypertension; improving outcomes after paediatric renal transplantation; and paediatric pharmacology of drugs used in the field of paediatric nephrology and hypertension. A particular research focus is the ontogeny (developmental changes) of drug disposition of immunosuppressive drugs used in paediatric renal transplantation.