Kandy Kidney Research Center\r
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The Department of Nephrology and Medical Intensive Care at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, and the National Hospital – Kandy in Sri Lanka are determining the cause of chronic kidney diseases of unknown aetiology. In doing so, they want to improve care for people with chronic kidney diseases in Sri Lanka. Therefore, they are establishing the Kandy Kidney Research Center to research chronic kidney diseases of unknown aetiology (CKDu). \r
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The Department of Nephropathology at University Hospital Erlangen and the Institute of Applied Geology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), both in Germany, are also involved in the project.\r
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Background\r
A regionally elevated incidence of chronic kidney diseases of unknown aetiology (CKDu) has been observed in Sri Lanka for over 10 years. It is striking that similar chronic and progressive kidney diseases are also occurring more frequently in other countries close to the equator. This may indicate a global phenomenon. Given the main disease appearance in especially hot regions, the possible causes considered have included heat stress, the quality of drinking water. and repeated dehydration, but also toxins and infectious diseases. These kidney diseases have been declared a national research priority in Sri Lanka.\r
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Activities\r
•\tEstablishment of a biobank with a barcode system for storing samples and a database containing clinical and epidemiological information\r
•\tImplementation of series of seminars, practical exercises and workshops on general research strategies and scientific approaches for an introduction to scientific medical research\r
•\tImplementation of joint research projects, including research visits in Germany, to analyse kidney diseases of unknown aetiology in animals, for gene expression analysis of kidney biopsies and more\r
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Impact\r
The project contributes to the establishment of nephrology research capacities locally in Sri Lanka and provides the needed instruments, resources and guidelines. In addition, the project involves many research opportunities for young scientists. In the long term, this will strengthen local research capacity and create a professional environment for this. Through the establishment of a biobank and a database, the partners in Sri Lanka not only gain specialist knowledge but also a technical infrastructure as the basis for further research on chronic kidney diseases at national and international level.\r