My First Paper: Julien Marro
Posted on: 24 August 2022 by Julien Marro in August 2022 posts
We continue our 'My First Paper' Campaign, showcasing researchers and their research - with medical student Julien Marro from IVES.
Your name and your area of research
My name is Julien Marro, I am a medical student currently intercalating in child health (MPhil) at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and my project focuses on IgA vasculitis in children and urinary markers of kidney inflammation. I am part of the EATC4Children research group (twitter: @EATC4Children).
What was the title of your first paper and who was it submitted to?
“Urinary Protein Array Analysis to Identify Key Inflammatory Markers in Children with IgA Vasculitis Nephritis”, submitted to Children (MDPI https://www.mdpi.com/journal/children ).
How would you explain what this paper was about to your grandparents?
IgA Vasculitis is a disease where the blood vessels become inflamed which usually causes a rash, sore joints, tummy pains and sometimes the kidneys also get inflamed. It is rare but it is the most common form of vasculitis in children. Most of the time the disease resolves by itself, but the main long-term problem is caused by the inflamed kidneys and some patients will progress onto chronic kidney disease. Currently, there is no way of knowing which children are at higher risk of developing the kidney problems. The aim of this project was to look at a large panel of compounds called proteins in the urine of children with IgA Vasculitis to try to better understand how this disease works and to find clues that might help identify which patients will have the kidney problems.
What was the most significant thing for you about that paper?
We identified key inflammatory proteins that had significantly increased concentrations in the urine of children with established IgA Vasculitis Nephritis compared to children with IgAV and no kidney involvement. Amongst them, levels of B-cell activating factor (BAFF), Cripto-1, sex-hormone-binding globulin and angiotensinogen were the most raised in the urine of patients with nephritis. In addition, other proteins of interests (ie related to the complement system) were also identified and this warrants further analysis due to the growing interest in the role of the complement system in similar diseases and the therapeutic applications of complement inhibition.
What advice would you give to others about submitting their first paper?
Be patient ! It takes time and a lot (a lot…) of different versions, but it will be worth it in the end. Also don’t worry, your supervisors will be very supportive in the process of submitting and revising the paper.
Keywords: Julien Marro, My First Paper.