Kidney Research UK

A close-up of petri dishes with purple cultures. Text over the image reads, "£40,000 grant received to find new ways to treat infection-related kidney disease in children."

Colourful microscopic image showing cells with purple and blue highlights. A text overlay reads: "Dr Patrick Walsh will look at how changes in protein production might cause haemolytic uraemic syndrome (STEC-HUS)."

A close-up of a microscope and lab equipment, with text: "STEC-HUS is a type of kidney damage caused by E. coli infection and affects around 100 children each year in the UK."

Dr Patrick Walsh & Dr Emily Bowen have received a £40,000 grant for research into haemolytic uraemic syndrome (STEC-HUS), the most common cause of children's kidney failure.

STEC-HUS is caused by E. coli infection & affects around 100 children per year in the UK.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4d6tPLr

Schedule poster for UK Kidney Week 2026 on Tuesday, 10 March include: "Meet the researcher: nursing guests" from 13:45 to 14:00, "Translation, innovation and enterprise: how we can support you" from 13:45 to 14:00, "Rare kidney diseases: research and collaboration" from 11:45 to 12:00, and "Early career research programme" from 15:45 to 16:00.

Schedule for UK Kidney Week 2026 on Wednesday 11 March. Events include discussions on "Translation, innovation and enterprise" from 11:00 to 11:15, "Our 2026 grants" from 11:30 to 11:45, "Rare kidney diseases: research and collaboration" from 13:00 to 13:15, "Early career research programme" from 13:30 to 13:45, "Meet the Researcher: Professor Michael Nicholson Award" from 15:00 to 15:30, and "Learn more about NURTuRE" from 15:45 to 16:00.

Schedule for UK Kidney Week 2026 event on Thursday, 12 March. The events listed are: "Meet the researcher: nursing grants" at 11:45 - 12:00, "Learn more about NURTuRE" at 11:45 - 12:00, "Our 2026 grants" at 13:15 - 13:30, and "Data Science and AI Strategy: Have your say!" at 13:15 - 13:30.

Minor timing changes! Please refer to the updated timetable below.

From 10-12 March, we'll be at Harrogate Convention Centre on stand S5 for the UK’s largest conference for the professional kidney community, providing opportunities to hear from some wonderful speakers & researchers.

@ukkidney.org

We're really excited about See Me being available for children to read and learn from, and we hope it encourages kindness, understanding and open communication for young patients and their families 💜

Find out more about the book here: www.kidneyresearchuk.org/2026/03/04/n...

We’ll be joining over 2,000 healthcare professionals and researchers at the @diabetesuk.bsky.social Professional Conference 2026!

Registration is now open, with the conference taking place from 22 to 24 April 2026 at Exhibition Centre Liverpool.

Secure your place now: https://bit.ly/3N2cbhd

Mary McCaul pointing to a poster that says 'apply for our kidney research grants'

We're at the British Transplantation Society Congress in North Wales from today until Friday 6 March!

Drop by to talk about real world implementation of research into practice and meet our chief research officer, David Crosby, at stand 1 during the 16:10 tea break!

@btstransplant.bsky.social

Alongside the Stoneygate Trust, we've awarded Professor Devin Peipert a £250,000 grant to develop patient reported outcomes to gather information on how hearing loss affects the lives of people living with Alport syndrome.

Read more https://bit.ly/4bl5LDi

Collectively common, rare kidney diseases report - Kidney Research UK A report about the impact of rare kidney diseases in the UK including diagnosis delays and waits for new treatments.

People with rare kidney diseases face significant diagnosis delays, inconsistent care & long waits for new treatments.

This Rare Disease Day, we are encouraging these conversations & sharing our findings with you.

Read our rare kidney diseases report here: https://bit.ly/47Wdp5Z

#RareDiseaseDay

Bushra Riaz standing next to a Kidney Research UK banner.

We’re delighted to share that Bushra Riaz, our policy and external affairs manager in Scotland, has been shortlisted for a prestigious PRCA Public Affairs Award in the ‘Public Affairs Trailblazer of the Year’ category.

We’re keeping everything crossed for the awards ceremony later this week!

Purple graphic featuring the text "Help us shape our data science and AI strategy." The Kidney Research UK logo is in the top left corner. A lightbulb with gears is in the bottom right corner.

Take our quick survey to help us shape our 2026–2031 data science and AI strategy. Your insights will help us understand how data is currently used in kidney research and what barriers limit big data opportunities.

Deadline: Thursday 26 March.

Click to complete the survey https://bit.ly/3MNxmnf

Older lady sitting on chair with a close up of her hands. You can't see her face.

Results published in Kidney International, led by Professor Edwina Brown and Dr Michelle Willicombe from Imperial College London, provide important insights into the experiences of older patients receiving a kidney transplant.

Read more about the research https://bit.ly/4qJyzKa

A win for NURTuRE and the team! 🎉

We’re incredibly proud to share that NURTuRE has won Best Research Partnership and Multisector Partnership of the Year at the Excellence in Healthcare Partnership Awards.

#EHPAwards

Opening the door to what's possible with NURTuRE. Text highlights the first NURTuRE webinar focused on kidney research, emphasizing its accelerated impact on discovery and previously unfeasible research. "Swipe for highlights" is indicated. At the bottom right, the NURTuRE logo features a heart with kidney shapes.

This image features a design about NURTuRE research infrastructure, highlighting its role in expediting scientific journeys with data linkage and sample collection. It emphasizes the importance of efficient use of time and funding in scientific questions. There is also a photo of Dr. Gaia Cantelli, identified as the Director of the NURTuRE.

The image is a promotional graphic for predicting disease progression with NURTuRE. It discusses using urinary microRNA biomarkers to assess kidney function decline. The graphic emphasizes that NURTuRE enables discovery testing in large patient populations. It includes a photo of Prof. Donald Fraser from Cardiff University.

The image is a poster with a purple gradient background. The title reads, "Understanding scarring and risk in chronic kidney disease." The text explains that research using thousands of samples from NURTuRE-CKD identified collagen-related biomarkers linked to faster kidney function loss and higher risk of kidney failure and death. At the bottom, the text credits Dr. Solveig Groen of Nordic Bioscience.

The first NURTuRE webinar brought together researchers to showcase how NURTuRE can unlock new insights into kidney disease.

Read more on our website about what's possible with NURTuRE https://bit.ly/46GNxt7

Person holding a report titled "Collectively Common: The devastating impact of rare kidney diseases in the UK" with the logo of the University of Glasgow. The text highlights Dr. Ben Reynolds discussing diagnosis and treatment gaps for children with rare kidney diseases, the expertise of the research community, and the need for innovative research and new trials nationally.

A presentation slide features text about Dr. Wen Ding from the University of Bristol, discussing gene therapy for nephrotic syndrome and future pediatric nephrology. It mentions a Kidney Research UK funded PhD. There is an image of a DNA strand at the bottom right.

A person from UCL delivered the Lesley Rees memorial lecture. The presentation emphasized the global impact of kidney failure on children and families, underscoring the need for early identification, better monitoring, and new treatments. A partial view of a laptop and a tablet on a desk is shown in the corner.

A group of people are gathered around research posters at a conference. The text highlights research on children with acute kidney injury (AKI), the future risk of chronic kidney disease, and a workshop on pediatric AKI in the UK sponsored by Kidney Research UK.

We had two inspiring days in Solihull at the UK Paediatric Kidney Conference.

It was a pleasure to connect with so many people from across the research community and speak about our opportunities for 2026.

Here are a few research highlights from the conference.

The image shows a close-up of a box labeled "Prescription" with a green pharmacy cross. The text at the bottom reads, "NICE approves access to treatment for people with IgA nephropathy." A Kidney Research UK logo is visible in the corner.

We welcome the decision from NICE - National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, that will enable more people living with primary IgA nephropathy (IgAN) to access a targeted treatment on the NHS in England.

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/4rB3p8P

New results suggest that bladder cancer could be caused by the body’s response to common childhood virus - Kidney Research UK New data from Dr Simon Baker suggests BK virus can drive bladder cancer development, which kidney transplant recipients are at more risk of.

For World Cancer Day, we're shining a spotlight on Dr Simon Baker and his team at the University of York, and their research into BK virus and bladder cancer.

Read more the research here: https://bit.ly/4pjXEvr

What are we looking forward to in 2026?

We caught up with four of our funded researchers to hear how their projects are progressing, what they've achieved so far and how their work can give hope to people living with kidney disease in the year ahead.

Read the full article: https://bit.ly/3NU7kyO

Jess Ivy, and two team members, are posing for a selfie. There are two women and one male. They are sat a lab desk, dressed in laboratory clothing with equipment in front of them.

Could understanding blood pressure changes during sleep in kidney patients be key to protecting heart and vessel health?

Dr Jess Ivy, and the team at the University of Edinburgh, are researching to find out.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3NSs6Pe

We’re proud to be part of a cardiovascular disease (CVD) coalition, calling for policy change on prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for CVD and risk conditions.

Find out more by reading our new action plan for tackling CVD: Getting to the heart of the matter: https://bit.ly/4k1OkKK

New dialysis research update!

Prof Grazia De Angelis, Dr Maryam Zarghamidehaghani, and the team at the University of Edinburgh are working on the REDIAL project to create a smaller, wearable artificial kidney that could make dialysis easier for patients.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/4pfWb8o

Meet Diane Lee, a PHD student at the University of York, working with Dr Simon Baker, searching for new ways to control BK virus after kidney transplant.

Read more on how their work will benefit kidney patients: https://bit.ly/4pjXEvr

We welcome the new treatment option approved by NICE for some adults with lupus nephritis. We contributed to the approval by nominating a clinical expert to give evidence to the NICE committee.

Read more: https://bit.ly/45XbEn2

Promotional graphic from Kidney Research UK announcing recruitment for the position of Data Science Programme Lead.

We’re recruiting a data science programme lead to help develop and deliver a bold data science and AI strategy that will position us at the forefront of innovation.

For the full job description and to apply, click here: https://bit.ly/4rrsEKL

Promotional graphic for Kidney Research UK announcing a recruitment drive for a Peer Educator Coordinator, stating it is the leading kidney research charity in the UK. The background is purple with white text.

We’re hiring a peer educator coordinator to be part of the SPOT CKD project (Screening, Prevention, Outreach and Treatment of CKD for Health Equity project) to support screening and prevention of CKD, improving early diagnosis and enable disease prevention.

Apply here: https://bit.ly/3YW0cEq

A healthcare professional holding a model of a human kidney and pointing to it with a tool, in a clinical setting.

Dr Laura Denby, and collaborators at the University of Edinburgh and Queen’s University Belfast, have discovered a new biomarker in the blood for chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Read more on the teams study here: https://bit.ly/4jvbn0b

Love my Swag bag from Emma @kidneyresearchuk.org #teamkidney #londonmarathon2026 #marathontraining

We’re looking to hire a supporter engagement officer to deliver excellent personalised telephone engagement to supporters, donors, event participants and prospects to strengthening relationships and help generating income.

To read the full job description and to apply: https://bit.ly/3LL0uuT

Grateful as always for a chance to share my @kidneyresearchuk.org work on multi-omics, SIMS & Alport syndrome at the Matrix Biology Society of Australia and New Zealand (MBSANZ) meeting! Huge appreciation to the tiny town of people that contribute to this work 💜

Yesterday’s outreach event at St. Mark’s Church, Kennington Park Rd, London, SE11 4PW, was a tremendous success. Blood & organ donation awareness + free kidney screenings.
#BlackHistoryMonth #KidneyAwareness #BloodDonation #OrganDonation @kidneyresearchuk.org @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social

Earlier this month at Maudsley Hospital, our community came together to discuss kidney health, blood, and organ donation -breaking stigma, sharing stories, and inspiring action. 🖤
#OurHealthOurPower #BlackHistoryMonth #CommunityHealth
@kingscollegelondon.bsky.social @kidneyresearchuk.org

What an inspiring day at London South Bank University (103 Borough Road, London SE1 0AA)! Our community showed up, got tested, asked questions, and took ownership of their kidney health. #BlackHistoryMonth #KidneyAwareness @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social @kidneyresearchuk.org