Lead: Professor Samira Bell
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects around one in ten people in the world, and can increase the risk of also developing cardiovascular disease. Because these conditions are closely linked, harnessing insights from high-quality, large-scale health data through the Kidney Data Science Catalyst could, in partnership with Kidney Research UK, help to improve our understanding of how to develop more effective treatments, or prevent them altogether.
What we do
We’re working to help researchers to securely access, link, and analyse the UK’s wealth of health data, speeding up the search for better kidney and cardiovascular prevention, treatments, and care. As well as with insights from patients and members of the public affected by kidney disease, we’re supporting research to help people with these conditions to stay healthier for longer.
Key areas of work
Delphi prioritisation approach
We’ve been running a prioritisation exercise (using a modified Delphi approach) to help us understand the most pressing issues in kidney and cardiovascular disease research. With involvement from expert scientists, healthcare professionals, patients and members of the public, surveys and workshops have helped us to pinpoint the most important research themes:
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- How disease develops
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- Healthcare inequalities
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- How healthcare is delivered and paid for
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- Multiple and linked health conditions
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- Developing the best and most effective treatment strategies
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- Prevention: risk factors and prediction
Driver projects
We’re supporting 3 projects investigating the links between kidney and cardiovascular disease and COVID-19, directly funded through the catalyst. This research could offer new insights to improve how these conditions are diagnosed and treated, potentially transforming lives.
Defining kidney disease
For effective data research into kidney disease, researchers need to know exactly how to define the condition. We’re working to develop these definitions so scientists can ask and answer the most important research questions as accurately as possible.