Earlier this month, the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) announced the five recipients of the 2023 NKF Young Investigator Research Grant Programme. The programme recognises young researchers who have demonstrated “commitment, promise and innovation”, providing funding for their continued work investigating advanced kidney disease and effective treatments.
Five grants are awarded in several categories and recipients are decided based on peer-reviewed analysis by an independent committee. If successful, each recipient will receive US$35,000 (US$25,000 for the Krainin Award) for one year.
This year, Korey Bartolomeo (Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, USA) has been awarded the Satellite Dialysis Young Investigator grant, Dipal Patel (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA) and Leonela Villegas (Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, USA) have been awarded the NKF Young Investigator Research Grant, Stella Kilduff (Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, USA) has been awarded the NKF Young Investigator Grant, and Anvesha Srivastava (George Washington University, Washington D.C., USA) is the recipient of the Joseph M. Krainin MD. Memorial Young Investigator Award.
Korey Bartolomeo, the recipient of the Satellite Dialysis Young Investigator grant, will use the funding to further investigate the mechanisms underlying APOL1-associated kidney diseases related to the inheritance of two copies of high-risk APOL1 kidney disease risk variants, which disproportionately affect patients of West African descent.
Dipal Patel, one of two recipients of the NKF Young Investigator Research Grant, will continue to conduct research that leverages electronic health records to implement and incorporate patient-reported symptoms into clinical care.
Leonela Villegas, who was also awarded the NKF Young Investigator Research Grant, plans to spearhead research focusing on the experience and impact of readmissions on the caregivers of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD), with the aim to elicit factors that contribute to readmissions and improve clinical care for this vulnerable population.
Anvesha Srivastava is this year’s recipient of the Joseph M Krainin Memorial Young Investigator Award for their pilot study focussed on the interplay between genetic variations and micro-ribonucleic acid (RNA) expression in CKD progression.
The final awardee for this year is Stella Kilduff, who was given the NKF Young Investigator Grant for their work investigating the impact of metabolic acidosis on kidney transplant recipients, in the hopes of uncovering mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets to improve patient outcomes.
According to Sylvia Rosas (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, USA), NKF president, “these exceptional young investigators have demonstrated remarkable dedication to advancing kidney disease research. Their works hold great promise for improving our understanding of kidney disease and enhancing patient care. At NKF we understand that kidney disease affects individuals throughout their lifespan and are pleased that reviewers recommended for funding several awards focused on children with kidney diseases. In addition, we look forward to learning more about the impact of genes in kidney disease progression as well as the use of artificial intelligence to address patient symptoms.”
