UK kidney biobank study hits recruitment target

2nd September 2019

NURTuRE-CKD biobank project, supported by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, has hit the recruitment target of 3000 people in the UK.

NURTuRE is the first unique biobank for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) across England, Scotland and Wales. It will provide a vital resource for researchers and industry partners to unlock some of the mysteries surrounding kidney disease and help discover new treatments, faster.

In total, 15 hospitals have been involved in the NURTuRE-CKD project over the past two years, including the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow supported by NRS Renal and Glasgow Clinical Research Facility. NURTuRE also plans to collect samples from 800 people with INS, and are halfway to reaching that target too.

Each person who takes part gives samples, including blood and urine, and consent to their anonymised clinical information being held in the NURTuRE biobank.

A fantastic achievement

Commenting on the study Professor Patrick Mark, NRS Renal Clinical Lead, Reader and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow said:

“We’re delighted to have made a substantial contribution to this fantastic resource which will help researchers better understand kidney disease. The NURTuRE study is working towards better treatments to prevent progression of chronic kidney disease and avoid the need for dialysis. I’d like to thank all the patients who have agreed to take part so far and also pay a tribute to the hard work of the Glasgow Clinical Research Facility Renal Nurse team, who will continue to carry out all the follow-up visits with our patients.”

Maarten Taal, Professor of Medicine at the University of Nottingham and Consultant Nephrologist at the Royal Derby Hospital, who jointly leads the project said:

“NURTuRE is an exciting project that will accelerate much-needed research into kidney disease in the UK. This is a fantastic achievement and really something to be celebrated by everyone involved”.

“We are extremely thankful for the effort that has been made by staff at all the hospitals involved in recruitment and very grateful to the patients who have agreed to take part. Our task now is to encourage the 3,000 participants to continue to work with us and attend their follow-up appointment so that we can obtain further samples needed to complete the study”.

Elaine Davies, Director of Research Operations at Kidney Research UK said:

“We are delighted that 3000 people with chronic kidney disease are taking part in the NURTuRE-CKD biobank project. We will shortly start to analyse their samples and hope they will eventually reveal new ways to prevent or slow down the progression of kidney failure.”

Uniquely, any researcher accessing the samples will be required to contribute their research findings back into a central repository after publication which will enrich the information available and ultimately speed up the progress of renal research.

We need your help

Recruitment continues across the UK to the NURTuRE-INS (NephroS) biobank. If you are a kidney patient with nephrotic syndrome in one of the participating hospitals, you may be able to be part of this exciting project. Find out if your hospital is taking part: www.nurturebiobank.org/renal-units/.

The NURTuRE project is being jointly delivered through the University of Nottingham, led by Maarten Taal, supported by Fiona Robertson, co-ordinator of the NURTuRE-CKD study, and the University of Bristol, led by Moin Saleem, Professor of Paediatric Renal Medicine, supported by Liz Colby as co-ordinator for the NURTuRE-INS (NephroS) study.

The biobank is funded by AbbVie Inc, AstraZeneca, Evotec AV, Retrophin, UCB Celltech Biopharma and Kidney Research UK.

Further details are available here.

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