Frontiers in Kidney Medicine and Biology is an interview series presented by the Renal Research Institute (RRI) and hosted by Peter Kotanko, MD, FASN and Research Director at RRI. Each episode of the Frontiers in Kidney Medicine and Biology series showcases an in-depth conversation with thought leaders from around the world. These foremost scientists and doctors share their insights into the latest advances in renal research and beyond, and share how they are taking medicine, research and science to exponentially higher levels. Each episode of Frontiers in Kidney Medicine and Biology series is available on the RRI YouTube channel, and podcasts on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Episodes

June 26, 2024

The  In this episode of Frontiers in Kidney Medicine and Biology, we feature Dr. Ana Catalina Alvarez Elias and Dr. Rasha Hussein, research scientists at RRI and members of the International Society of Nephrology’s Emerging Leaders Program 2024 cohort. Dr. Alvarez Elias shares her journey from Mexico to Canada and her passion for pediatric kidney care, while Dr. Hussein recounts her experiences in Sudan during civil unrest and her focus on improving epidemiology and registries. Both guests emphasize the importance of global collaboration and networking to advance kidney health initiatives. Join us to hear their inspiring stories and their vision for the future of nephrology. 

Oct 2, 2023

In this episode of Frontiers in Kidney Medicine and Biology, Dr. Peter Blankestijn from the Department of Nephrology at the University Medical Center, Utrecht; Krister Cromm, Expert Director of Patient Experience and Clinical Research at Fresenius Medical Care; and Dr. Sandip Mitra, Consultant Nephrologist and Honorary Lecturer at the University of Manchester, join Dr. Peter Kotanko, Head of Biomedical Evidence Generation and the Renal Research Institute, to talk about the groundbreaking CONVINCE Study and the impressive results that came from it. Learn how this study came to fruition and its most important outcomes.

Oct 1, 2023

The Renal Research Institute is excited to be back with #Frontiers in Kidney Medicine and Biology, where Dr. Peter Kotanko, Head of Biomedical Evidence Generation, and the Renal Research Institute, discusses and shares the latest knowledge and advances in kidney research. In this episode, Dr. Edwina Brown, Consultant Nephrologist and President of the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) sits down with Dr. Kotanko to talk about her goals as president of the ISPD and her plans to make peritoneal dialysis more accessible to low- and middle- income countries.

Apr 27, 2022

Join Dr. Peter Kotanko, MD, FASN, Head of Biomedical Evidence Generation and Renal Research Institute, and John Daugirdas, MD, FACP, FASN, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Illinois School of Medicine at Chicago, as they discuss aspects around dialysis patient prescription.

Mar 23, 2022

This session will discuss the principles of early vascular aging in chronic kidney disease. We will also discuss what we can learn from the animal kingdom in order to identify novel opportunities to slow down the aging process in humans with the burden of lifestyle diseases. We will also discuss the role of and identification of biomarkers of biological age

Feb 23, 2022

This episode discusses the opportunities that the electrocardiogram (ECG) offers for the detection of electrolyte imbalances. The advantages of the ECG and the current state of the art of manual and automatic algorithms are summarized. A particular field of interest is the use of machine learning methods for an automatic classification or regression of electrolyte imbalances and concentrations, respectively.

Jan 26, 2022

This session will be a discussion about hemodialysis, one of the main treatments for kidney failure, but also a treatment that can have adverse consequences. Some of these relate to the stress that dialysis can exert on the cardiovascular system, which in turn affects the delivery of blood to different organs. We will discuss how this happens, what it means for patients, and what can be done to address this.

Dec 22, 2021

This episode we discuss the intersection between kidney medicine and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Nov 24, 2021

This episode will discuss the use of mathematical modeling and computations to gain insights into the pandemic in order to provide effective intervention measures and to understand the drivers of the contagion among kidney patients.

Oct 27, 2021

In this episode of Frontiers in Kidney Medicine & Biology, Dr. Peter Kotanko, Research Director at Renal Research Institute is joined by Dr. Fokko Pieter Wieringa, PhD, Principal Scientist at IMEC in The Netherlands as they address what pervasive sensing is (including some examples), as well as go into the opportunities and risk of pervasive sensing. If time allows, we will discuss in what direction pervasive sensing may be going.

Sep 22, 2021

In this episode, Dr. Peter Kotanko is joined by Dr. Roberto Pecoit-Filho, Senior Research Scientist from the Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, to discuss the differences between anemia in the general population and in patients with kidney disease. We also discuss the current understanding of the mechanisms behind CKD anemia and the perspective of the introduction of new treatment options and an expansion in the understanding of the pathophysiology.

Aug 25, 2021

In this session join Drs. Peter Kotanko and Bernard Canaud discuss the suggestion that monthly monitoring of SCI, as part of routine baseline dialysis patient monitoring, will offer a new and cost-effective tool to detect earlier nutritional status deterioration. SCI used as a surrogate marker of active MM would facilitate detection of sarcopenia trends, offering opportunities to implement interventions that might delay, and halt or even reverse such deleterious dynamics. SCI can be easily integrated and used as a first-line tool in complement to visceral proteins (i.e., albumin) to monitor muscle mass changes in clinical routine.

Jul 28, 2021

In this session, the pathophysiology of hypoxemia and hypoxia in patients on dialysis will be discussed, as well as the mechanisms by which these phenomena are related to adverse outcomes. The maladaptive responses in patients on dialysis will be discussed in the context of comparative physiology, with the example of Sherpa, which shows a highly adaptive response to ambient hypoxia. It will also be discussed how lessons from comparative physiology might be of potential benefit to patients on dialysis.

Jun 23, 2021

This session discusses my research interests in general and particularly a piece of research that aimed to describe the time of onset of intradialytic hypotension during hemodialysis sessions.

May 26, 2021

A discussion between Drs. Peter Kotanko and Richard Weller on the latter’s research into the effects of sunlight on systemic health. Dr. Weller describes two recent epidemiological studies he has performed in which he demonstrated an inverse relationship between sunlight exposure and blood pressure, and COVID mortality. He has previously demonstrated NO release from UV exposed skin to the circulation which may account for these effects.

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