Donate| Shop| Site Map| Compliments & Complaints| Contact Us
 
 
You are here: Home > Services > Specialized Pediatrics > Nephrology > Research
Nephrology
What we do
For families
For professionals
Research
Contact us
 Quick Links
 
     
 

Research

The Nephrology Program is involved in international, multi center, collaborative clinical research trials including:

  • trials in optimal drug therapy for children with kidney transplants (NIH-sponsored steroid withdrawal trial)
  • randomized controlled trials for children with progressive forms of chronic glomerulonephritis (NIH sponsored FSGS trial, IgA nephropathy trial)
  • ongoing trials for the best therapy of pediatric hypertension
  • a Canadian multi center trial studying the long term effects of steroids on bone health (STOPP Trial)
  • outcomes research, studying the Walkerton population and the long term effects of E. coli exposure (WEL Study)
  • multicentre collaboration defining the determinants of long term outcome in children with chronic kidney disease (CKiDS Study)

Basic Research in the Program includes:

  • gene and protein expression studies in both human and animal models of renal dysplasia
  • in vitro experimental models, including fetal kidney explants and primary cell lines
  • a non-human primate model of obstructive renal dysplasia,
  • a transgenic mouse line with a mutant form of the IGF receptor, expressed exclusively in a specific kidney cell type.

Educational research within the Program includes:

  • needs-based reform of pediatric nephrology subspecialty teaching and curriculum for pediatric residents.

The Nephrology Program has received close to $1 million of funding for basic research since 2003, with operating grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Kidney Foundation of Canada, internal support from the Dean of Medicine and Establishment Awards, as well as training grants from National Science and Engineering Research Council and summer studentship awards from the Child and Family Research Institute. The Program continues to provide elective and research training to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Clinical Research is funded through enrollment in clinical trials, averaging up to approximately $100,000 per year (the value varies depending on patient recruitment and enrollment).