American Kidney Fund awards Clinical Science in Nephrology fellowships to researchers
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Key takeaways:
- The fellows receive advanced training and conduct clinical research to help improve the lives of kidney patients.
- The program helps to fund and support nephrology researchers in their early work.
The American Kidney Fund has chosen the recipients of this year’s Clinical Science in Nephrology fellowship program, which supports researchers working to improve the quality of care for patients with kidney disease.
Kativa Mistry, MD, PhD, a nephrology fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, will use state-of-the-art single-cell sequencing technologies to research the initial events that lead to kidney inflammation in acute interstitial nephritis (ICI-AIN), according to a press release. Marcelle Tuttle, MD, a first-year fellow in the division of nephrology at Tufts Medical Center, will focus her research on the development of pulmonary hypertension in patients with chronic kidney disease.
More than 50 top nephrology researchers received early support from the American Kidney Fund (AKF) through the Clinical Science in Nephrology (CSN) fellowship program. The CSN program helps to address the shortage of nephrology researchers, as fellows conduct prevention and outcomes research and receive advanced training in essential skills such as medical ethics, biostatistics and epidemiology.
“American Kidney Fund is proud to have Dr. Mistry and Dr. Tuttle join the ranks of prestigious researchers in our Clinical Scientist in Nephrology program, generously supported this year by Hearst Foundations,” LaVarne A. Burton, AKF president and CEO, said in the release. “We look forward to seeing the positive impact of their research, which will help kidney patients who are facing additional health challenges like cancer and pulmonary hypertension.”
Mistry’s goal is to gain insight into the events that cause ICI-AIN, particularly as a result of cancer immunotherapy treatment. Through her research, Mistry hopes to aid in the development of non-invasive ICI-AIN tests that can be used in clinics and to help create improved treatments for ICI-AIN that have fewer adverse events on patients undergoing cancer treatment.
“I am delighted to join the AKF community, and to continue in the strong tradition of research supported by the AKF Clinical Scientist in Nephrology program,” Mistry said in the release. “Our work studying immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated kidney injury begins and ends with the patient, which aligns seamlessly with AKF’s mission to improve the care of patients with kidney disease.”
Further, Tuttle plans to examine the development of early pulmonary hypertension in patients with CKD. Pulmonary hypertension is rare among the global population, but affects approximately 21% of patients with CKD, putting them at a higher mortality risk. Tuttle’s project will involve identifying risk factors for pulmonary hypertension in patients with CKD and examining the progression of pulmonary hypertension and its effect on the kidneys and heart.
“Through this study, I plan to identify new risk factors for pulmonary hypertension in patients with [CKD],” Tuttle said. “I am extraordinarily grateful to the AKF for this opportunity and hope that this study will lead to earlier identification of pulmonary hypertension in CKD patients and potentially new treatments targeted towards the CKD population."
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