Renal Inflammation
Childhood Renal Inflammatory Programme.
Renal Inflammation
Childhood Renal Inflammatory Programme.
Transforming the Future of Rare Kidney Disease Treatment
Lead by Dr Louise Oni, we're bringing together top university researchers, healthcare professionals, charities, industry leaders, and patient groups to revolutionise treatment for rare kidney diseases — making them accessible to every patient.
This groundbreaking £10.4M Centre for Rare Kidney Disease connects all 13 childhood kidney care centres across the UK, powered by the national rare kidney disease registry (RaDaR) and the NURTuRE biobank — a rich resource of patient samples and data.
Backed by £9.4M from LifeArc and £1M from Kidney Research UK, we're on a mission to deliver real breakthroughs, including a clinical trial that could reduce childhood kidney failure by a third. As part of LifeArc’s £40M initiative to accelerate progress in rare diseases, this centre is set to push boundaries and change lives.
The future of kidney care starts here!
You can read more about it here: https://www.kidneyresearchuk.org/research/lifearc-centre/
https://www.kidneyresearchuk.org/2024/04/23/new-10-4m-research-centre-will-unlock-new-tests-treatments-and-cures-for-people-living-with-rare-kidney-diseases/
Developing Best Practice Recommendations for children with Inflammatory Kidney Diseases
Dr Oni is currently leading a national working group to undertake an exciting project to develop best evidence clinical practice recommendations on how to treat children and young people with inflammatory kidney diseases. This aims to improve the quality of care and reduce variation across the country through agreed standard treatment plans.
Standards of care for IgA Vasculitis have been produced and are awaiting sign off from the UK Kidney Association. These will help to transform the lives of children and young people, ensuring they get the best possible care and treatment.
Childhood Immunoglobulin A vasculitis (IgAV, previously known as Henoch Schonlein Purpura)
IgA Vasculitis (IgAV) is a condition that causes a skin rash of raised red/purple spots caused by inflammation, and although usually harmless in some cases it can affect organs, such as the kidneys. It is normally diagnosed via a clinical examination and kidney checks are performed. Immunoglobulin A vasculitis is the most common form of childhood vasculitis. Glomerulonephritis occurs in 30-50% of patients and it can cause long lasting renal damage. Understanding the scientific origin of this disease is important in order to develop new, more targeted treatments. We are currently looking at how the disease may originate from an abnormal production of immunoglobulin A (glycosylated versions) which is often co-located with complement products such as C3.
Childhood Lupus Nephritis – Renal Inflammation
We are investigating whether it is possible to predict a lupus renal flare earlier than using standard markers in clinical practice in the programme of work based on discovering 'Renal biomarkers in juvenile onset systemic lupus erythematosus'. Scientific investigation is continuing in the laboratory using immortalised renal cell lines to establish whether any of the specific biomarkers are arising directly from the kidney cells.