$100K supports kidney research in Manitoba

Winnipeg, MB – The Kidney Foundation of Canada Manitoba Branch has donated $100,000 towards the funding for a research chair in transplant nephrology at the University of Manitoba. The organization recently presented a cheque to Drs Peter Nickerson and David Rush, nephrology, and Dr Daniel Roberts, head of internal medicine at the university.

Dr Nickerson, one of the few transplant nephrologists in Canada trained in both clinical and laboratory medicine, and Dr Rush, head of nephrology, are exploring new methods of diagnosing transplant rejection. Working jointly with the National Research Council Institute for Biodiagnostics in Winnipeg, they are developing magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of urine samples to detect early inflammation in the graft.

Further, the research conducted will identify unique proteins involved in kidney rejection. The identification of these proteins will provide the pharmaceutical industry with novel targets in the design of new immunosuppressive therapies to prevent and treat transplant rejection.