As the peak body for kidney health in Australia, we are proud to support research that helps decrease incidence rates of kidney disease in communities, as well as improve management. This requires strong links with partner organisations and collaborative working groups to conduct research that can make a material difference to patient’s lives.
The Better Evidence And Translation – Chronic Kidney Disease (BEAT-CKD) is a collaborative research program that aims to improve the lives of people living with chronic kidney disease in Australia and globally by generating high-quality research evidence to inform healthcare decisions made by patients, health professionals, and policy makers. BEAT-CKD addresses the entire spectrum of CKD, from early-stage chronic kidney disease, through to dialysis, and kidney transplantation.
The objectives are to:
BEAT-CKD is funded by a NHMRC Program Grant (APP1092957) and supports four national research and translation platforms including: KHA-CARI, ANZDATA, Australian Clinical Trials Network (AKTN), Cochrane Kidney and Transplant.
Kidney Health Australia have partnered with BEAT-CKD to host Patient and Carer Forums. The programs for the sessions are informed by consumer preferences and ideas.
The 2019 Forum was held as part of the World Congress of Nephrology in Melbourne. Topics including exercise, dialysis-related fatigue, the carer’s perspective and consumer engagement in research.
The 2018 Forum was held as part of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nephrology Annual Scientific Meeting in Darwin. The sessions aimed to provide ‘updates’ of current kidney disease research to consumers.
Recordings of the Forums can be viewed via the BEAT-CKD YouTube Channel.
Since 1999, Kidney Health Australia and the Australian New Zealand Society of Nephrology (ANZSN) have partnered to fund The Caring for Australians and New Zealanders with Renal Impairment guidelines group (CARI). This partnership aims to produce evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the management of chronic kidney disease in Australia and New Zealand.
In 2017, the Federal Government commissioned Kidney Health Australia to conduct the community consultations for the guidelines to improve Indigenous kidney health. We’ve set ourselves an ambitious target when it comes to this important mission, specifically around the ongoing management of the disease within the community. In 2019, we conducted six community consultations to identify gaps, set recommendations to improve usefulness and suggest scope and content for the new Indigenous guidelines.
Our commitment to collaboration is central to this work. With expert input from the Lowitja Institute, the Aboriginal Kidney Care Together Improving Outcomes Now (aKction) project and other joint consultations, the updated KHA-CARI guidelines will help to continually improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s healthcare outcomes. Find out more about the KHA-CARI Indigenous Consultations
We are working on a project with the KidGen Collective and Australian Genomics called HIDDEN. Our goal is to investigate whether genes can unlock a kidney diagnosis and help someone in their clinical journey.
HIDDEN is one of four rare disease flagship projects. Locally, it involves collaboration between MNHHS/RBWH Kidney Health Service, Genetics Health Queensland and CHQHHS/LCCH Child and Adolescent Renal Service who operate the Queensland Conjoint Renal Genetics Service, along with the University of Queensland Faculty of Medicine and Institute for Molecular Bioscience.
The KidGen Collaborative, led nationally by Dr Mallett, is an Australian consortium of clinicians, genetic counsellors, genetic diagnosticians and researchers focused on providing a definitive diagnosis to patients with inherited forms of kidney disease whilst working to better understand these diseases in the hope of developing new treatments.
KidGen currently has 14 affiliated renal genetics clinics all around the country, with the first having been established at RBWH in August 2013.
Other key partners for the HIDDEN Flagship include Genome. One at the Garvan Institute, VCGS at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Kidney Health Australia, Genomics England and the Aotearoa Renal Genetics Study.
Australian Genomics is an NHMRC funded national research network that connects 80 organisations committed to integrating genomic medicine into healthcare in Australia. It aims to improve diagnostics, enable early intervention and support equitable access to genomic medicine. Its research is developing the knowledge to translate genomic technology sustainably into clinical practice, so patients and their families benefit.
To read more about the research projects we fund, please visit our Current Research page.
We work with partner organisations to deliver research that will create a better kidney future for all Australians
