Current Internal Collaborations: Clinical Research followed by Academic partnership
- Professor Germaine Wong, Western Sydney Local Health District, University of Sydney
- Professor Kate Wyburn, Sydney Local Health District, RPA, University of Sydney
- Dr Henry Wu, Northern Sydney Local Health District, University of Sydney
- Professor Sarah Glastras, Endocrinology, University of Sydney
- Professor Anthony Gill, Clinical Pathology, University of Sydney
- Dr Nicole Scholes-Robertson, The Australasian Clinical Trial Network, University of Sydney
- Dr Priya Iyer- Dietics and food service, University of Sydney
- Dr Malcolm Possell, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney
- Dr Ben Crossett, Sydney Mass Spectrometry, University of Sydney
- Dr Chandana Guha, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
- Prof Rachael Morton, Economics, University of Sydney
- Professor Fariba Dehghani Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney
- Professor Wojciech Chrzanowski, Pharmaceutical Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney
- Dr Sepehr Talebian, ECR- Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney
- Prof Sarah Hilmer, Laboratory of Ageing and Pharmacology, Kolling Institute, University of Sydney
- Dr Brian Bicknell, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney
- Associate Professor, Melanie White, Cardiometabolic Proteomics, Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney
- Professor Gemma Figtree, Cardiovascular Discovery Group, University of Sydney
External Collaborations- Clinical Research followed by Academic partnership
- Dr Muralikrishna Gangadharan Komala- Nephrology- Nepean Clinical Hospital
- Dr Seethalakshmi Viswanathan: Pathology- Western Sydney Local Health District
- A/Prof MuhGeot Wong, Nephrology- Concord Repatriation
- A/Prof Brendon Neuen- Global Clinical Trialist, Royal North Shore Hospital, The George Institute, UNSW
- Dr John-Paul Killen, Nephrology, Northern Beaches Hospital and Macquarie University
- Dr Angela Shih Yuan Chou, Clinical Pathology, NSW Health Pathology
- Dr Kushalee Jayawickreme, Endocrinology, Northern Sydney Local Health District
- Prof Ewa Goldys, ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Biophotonics, UNSW
- Prof Hui Chen, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney
- Dr Fei Deng, University of New South Wales
- Dr Wenbo Peng- Biostatistics-Public Health, University of Technology Sydney
- Dr Brian Gloss- Bioinformatics- Westmead Institute of Medical Research
- Dr Dawei Zheng- Advanced Genomics Specialist at Westmead Institute for Medical Research
- Dr Joey Lai, Westmead Institute for Medical Research
- Dr Meena Mikhael- proteomics Macquarie University
- Dr David Cantor- Metabolomics, Macquarie University
- Dr Ana Nunez-Nescolarde, the Harry Perkins Institute, University of Western Australia
- Prof Ryan Lister, School of Molecular Science, University of Western Sydney
- Dr Jantina Manning, Adelaide University
- Dr Jiao-Jiao Li, Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney
- Dr Kamal Dua, BPharm, Lead, Drug Delivery Node, Respiratory Pharmaceutical Research Team, Discipline of Pharmacy, University of Technology Sydney
- Processor Josephine Forbes, the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Group at Mater Research, University of Queensland
- Professor Michael Cowley, Department of Physiology Monash University
- Prof Raymond Norton, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University.
- Dr Ann Liebert, Sydney Adventist Hospital.
- Prof Emad El-Omar, Microbiome Research Centre, School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales
- Prof Michael Foley, Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe University
- Professor Richard Harvey, Developmental and Regeneration Biology Division Laboratory, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
International Collaborations
- Prof Philip Kalra, Nephrology, Salford Royal Hospital (UK)
- Dr Grahame Wood, Nephrology, Salford Royal Hospital (UK)
- Dr Rajkumar Chinnadurai, Nephrology, Salford Royal Hospital (UK)
- A/Prof I-wen Wu: Department of Nephrology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taiwan
- Dr Anand Krishnan:Chemical Pathology, Precision Medicine & Integrated Nano-Diagnostics (P-MIND) Research Group,Office of the Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences, Republic of South Africa
Current industrial collaborations
AstraZeneca
Revvity PTY/LTD
Syntara PTY/LTD
TEKv Therapeutics, the USA.
Adalta Ltd
Developing Kidney-Targeted Drug Delivery Systems:
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with kidney fibrosis being a hallmark of disease progression. Although multiple drugs have demonstrated anti-fibrotic effects in animal studies, reversing kidney disease has been a challenge in human due to difficulty in specifically targeting the kidney.
This research focuses on developing a targeted drug delivery system to enhance the specificity and efficacy of drug delivery to the kidney and ability to reverse kidney fibrosis. The outcomes of this research are expected to pave the way for targeted and efficient treatments, significantly improving patient outcomes in kidney diseases.
Predicting Therapeutic Response for Precision Medicine in Diabetic Kidney Disease:
Despite recent advances in the use of SGLT2 inhibitors for diabetic kidney disease (DKD), major challenges remain, including variable treatment response and adverse effects. Current management increasingly involves a “4 pillars” approach combining SGLT2 inhibitors, GLP1RAs, nsMRAs, and RAS blockade, with additional therapies continuing to emerge. As treatment options expand, patients face increasing medication burden and risk of side effects. This project aims to develop reliable screening tools/diagnostic markers to identify patients most likely to benefit from specific therapies or combinations, thereby enabling more targeted, effective and cost-effective clinical decision-making.
Developing novel non-invasive biomarkers for transplant complications
Kidney biopsy remains the only validated method to diagnose kidney transplant dysfunction accurately; however, it is invasive, requires hospitalization, and carries substantial time and healthcare costs.We have developed a non-invasive test that accurately distinguishes between causes of delayed graft function by assessing exfoliated kidney cells from patient’s urine (PCT/AU2025/051427). We now aim to validate our data and confirm efficacy in diagnosing different aetiological causes of post-transplant pathology. A urine-based test for kidney transplant recipients will potentially transform how transplant recipients are assessed, improve accessibility to post-transplant care and provide significant health and economic benefits, particularly for Australians in regional communities.
Developing novel therapeutic strategies for chronic kidney disease and cardiac renal syndrome
These projects focus on developing innovative therapies and mechanistic insights for chronic kidney disease and cardiorenal syndrome using advanced preclinical and translational approaches. Projects include evaluation of novel therapeutics such as the Kv1.3 inhibitor HsTX1[R14A], CXCR4 inhibitor AD-214, EN-1-targeted CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, and the aldosterone synthase inhibitor Baxdrostat, alongside drug-free photobiomodulation therapy. Additional research investigates the gut-kidney axis, ageing, sex differences, and polypharmacy in kidney injury susceptibility. Using animal models, organoids, multi-omics, and humanized mouse systems, these studies aim to identify disease mechanisms, reduce fibrosis and inflammation, improve renal and cardiac outcomes, and advance safer, disease-modifying therapies toward clinical translation.
Advancing precision medicine and regenerative therapies through kidney organoids
These projects explore the transformative applications of kidney organoids and tubuloids in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and acute kidney injury (AKI). Patient-derived urine tubuloids provide a non-invasive, personalised platform that preserves disease heterogeneity, enabling improved modelling of CKD mechanisms and precision medicine approaches. In parallel, kidney organoid are being investigated as innovative regenerative therapies to reduce inflammation, fibrosis, and kidney injury progression in AKI, AKI-to-CKD transition, diabetic kidney disease, and obesity-related nephropathy. Using advanced multi-omics technologies, these projects aim to uncover therapeutic mechanisms and develop safer, more effective treatments that may reduce reliance on dialysis and kidney transplantation.
