Driving Discoveries 2024: Accelerating Research, with NURTuRE

28 October 2024

At our annual conference Driving Discoveries 2024, held on 4-5 September in Nottingham, NURTuRE was highlighted as a key resource to speed up the search for more effective, personalised approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease.

Research posters on display in large room with people viewing them and networking

Driving Discoveries 2024

Introducing NURTuRE

NURTuRE is a unique resource that has been designed to accelerate new research into kidney disease. NURTuRE contains information from patients living in the UK with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS). This will be extended to patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) over the coming years.

In addition to biological samples such as plasma, serum and urine, NURTuRE also links to long-term (healthcare) data through NHS England and the devolved nations (Wales and Scotland).

Visit NURTuRE website

Sharing innovative research through NURTuRE

This year, Driving Discoveries explored the theme ‘accelerating research’ which reinforced the need for new and more advanced approaches to personalised medicine through innovation and collaboration.

Dr Samira Bell, co-chair of the UK Renal Health Data Network and associate director of the BHF Data Science Centre Catalyst, talked about the importance of carefully using information from healthcare records to drive progress in research, highlighting the key role of NURTuRE in this area.

How NURTuRE is promoting new research

We were also delighted to have an oral and a poster presentation which both demonstrated how NURTuRE is already promoting new research.

In his oral abstract presentation, Dr Anthony Onoja from the University of Surrey discussed his work using data from nearly 3,000 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) who participated in NURTuRE. His research focused on identifying plasma and urine biomarkers that are strongly linked to both early and late stages of CKD, which can significantly enhance predictive models for kidney failure outcomes when combined with clinical risk factors.

Anthony told us: “At DD24, I shared how machine learning (a type of the computer-based technology known as artificial intelligence) helped us pinpoint specific biomarkers from the NURTuRE cohort that are highly predictive of CKD progression. This research is important because it provides a deeper understanding of the different pathophysiologies (disease processes) between early and late CKD, which can pave the way for personalised risk prediction and targeted treatments in the future."

NURTuRE is also being used by Dr Daniel Smith from Cardiff University to study markers of progression in a type of kidney disease called IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and diabetic kidney disease.

“One of the greatest challenges in kidney disease is predicting which patients are likely to retain kidney function in the long-term and which patients are likely to rapidly lose kidney function and end up needing transplant or dialysis. Currently used markers of kidney disease progression, while useful, are not always accurate and are subject to changes according to diet, muscle mass, age and other factors. They are also often only found during kidney function loss. Our work has been investigating molecules known as microRNA in urine of patients with diabetic kidney disease and IgAN from NURTuRE. We hope to find new markers that can supplement those currently used to better predict the longer-term outcomes of these patients and lead to more personalised and strategic treatment plans.” Daniel Smith.

We look forward to hearing about the next steps in both projects.

“NURTuRE offers an important opportunity to drive precision medicine by supporting the new approaches to prevention, diagnosis, patient stratification and care that are so urgently needed.” Elaine Davies, director of research operations at Kidney Research UK.

Apply for NURTuRE samples

Researchers can apply for access to the samples and data held in NURTuRE via the NURTuRE website.

We would like to thank researchers and patients who have supported NURTuRE. We would also like to thank anyone who talked to the team and encourage anyone who would like to work with us in this area to contact us.