Perioperative kidney protection
Earlier recognition of patients with, or at risk of, acute kidney injury (AKI), and interventions to prevent or treat it. AKI carries short-term harm — longer ICU and hospital stays, the need for renal replacement therapy, added morbidity and mortality — and, longer-term, progression toward chronic kidney disease and eventually transplantation or dialysis. Reducing its incidence or severity improves outcomes for patients and populations, and reduces healthcare costs.
People
Main collaborators
Abraham Hulst, Jeroen Hermanides, Daniël van Raalte.
Other collaborators
Recurring co-authors across the kidney-protection publications: Yugeesh Lankadeva and Clive May, both at the Florey Institute, University of Melbourne.
Patient organisations
PhD students
Lars Snel
SGLT2 inhibition and kidney protection in cardiac surgery.
Marjella Eijmael
SGLT2 inhibitors, GLP-1 agonists, and cardiac surgery-associated AKI.
Vera de Winter
Joining the kidney-protection line — publications forthcoming.
Funding & main projects
Five linked grants and studies, from mechanism to multicentre trial.
MERCURI-2
Multicentre RCT of preoperative SGLT2 inhibition to prevent AKI after cardiac surgery. Built on the MERCURI-1 pilot study. Full results and trial page live once the journal publication is out.
NEPTUNE
Does ketone supplementation protect the kidney through improved oxygenation? Metabolomics, an ovine model, and a clinical trial.
Read the trial page → Proposed · under reviewSTELLAR
Can Functional Renal Reserve Capacity catch subclinical kidney decline early enough for SGLT2i to prevent CKD after cardiac surgery?
Read the trial page →NEPHRITIC
Investigating incretin/GLP-1 receptor agonism as a renoprotective strategy against acute kidney injury.
ELECTRIC
The same renoprotective question, approached through SGLT2 inhibition.