Lunenfeld scientist awarded Kidney Foundation of Canada Medal for Research Excellence

(Toronto – January 4, 2010)

 

Dr. Susan Quaggin, Senior Investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital, has been honoured with this past year’s Medal for Research Excellence by The Kidney Foundation of Canada. The prestigious award is presented annually to a Canadian researcher whose work is recognized by his/her peers to have significantly advanced the treatment of kidney disease and related conditions.

 

Widely regarded as one of the most dynamic and innovative physician-scientists working in nephrology, Dr. Quaggin is committed to finding new methods to halt the progression of kidney disease.

 

As a researcher in the Centre for Genomics Medicine at the Lunenfeld, she is working to better understand kidney function – and dysfunction – in order to improve the diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease. 

 

“One of the advantages of working in this area is that we can take questions we have at the bedside, and address them in the lab,” says Dr. Quaggin.

 

She and her team of 15 students and post-docs use mouse models to study glomeruli, which are the microscopic filtering units of the kidney, as well as important octopus-shaped cells called podocytes that form a major part of the filters. Dr. Quaggin is interested in how glomeruli become damaged, diseased and scarred named glomerulosclerosis, a condition that occurs in end-stage kidney failure. Unlike the liver, our kidneys cannot repair or regenerate their cells, so transplant or dialysis are at present the only treatment options.

 

Dr. Quaggin’s research has already resulted in the discovery of a gene critical for kidney, heart and lung development. She is now using that gene to study the development of kidneys, in particular the development of glomeruli. Growth factors that affect the blood vessels surrounding kidney cells are also a key area of focus. Through her work, Dr. Quaggin believes that a better understanding of this process will be critical in the development of new treatments for kidney disease.

 

“We now have a handle on a number of different genes that cause kidney disease,” says Dr. Quaggin. “Also, we have incredible insight into how kidney cells talk to each other. These insights have led to better diagnostic and preventative techniques, and within the next decade I think we’ll also see targeted therapies to help patients living with kidney disease.”   

 

Dr. Quaggin recognizes the invaluable support that the Kidney Foundation of Canada has provided for her research. In 1998 she received her first grant from the organization, and she has acted as a peer reviewer on its scientific committee for eight years. “The Kidney Foundation is bettering the lives of patients with kidney disease, and this is the same reason I opened a lab in the first place,” said Dr. Quaggin. “It is a huge honour to win this award.”

 

More than 30,000 Canadians suffer from kidney failure and require dialysis or a transplant to stay alive. Millions more have related conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which are the leading causes of kidney failure. The disease has a 50% five-year survival rate, the same as for lung cancer.