About The CJKHD
Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease, the official journal of the Canadian Society of Nephrology, is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal that encourages high quality submissions focused on clinical, translational and health services delivery research in the field of chronic kidney disease, dialysis, kidney transplantation and organ donation.
Our mandate is to promote and advocate for kidney health as it impacts national and international communities.
Rami
Al Batran
Rami Al Batran, PhD, BPharm
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Al Batran received his Bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the Arab International University, Syria, in 2009. In 2014, he completed his PhD in cardiovascular pharmacology with Dr. Fouad Al Bayaty at the University Technology Mara, Malaysia. He then moved to Edmonton to train with Dr. John Ussher as a post-doctoral fellow at the Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta. In 2020, Dr. Al Batran joined the Faculté de pharmacie at the Université de Montréal as an assistant professor to start his own lab. Dr. Al Batran’s research program primarily focusing on how obesity-induced alterations in ketone body metabolism, and how targeting ketone metabolism may be a novel approach to counteract obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes and diabetic kidney disease.
Mark
Canney
Mark Canney MD, PhD, FRCPC
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Canney is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, associate scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and staff nephrologist at the Ottawa Hospital. He completed his undergraduate medical degree at National University of Ireland Galway and undertook his internal medicine and nephrology training in Ireland. He completed a PhD in population health epidemiology at Trinity College Dublin in 2017 before moving to Canada to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia under the mentorship of Dr. Adeera Levin and Dr. Sean Barbour. It was there that he cultivated his research interests in the epidemiology of glomerular disease and refining our understanding of clinical outcomes in patients with different types of kidney disease. With the support of the KRESCENT program, Dr. Canney seeks to improve the awareness, assessment and management of cardiovascular risk among patients with glomerular disease.
Sergi
Clotet-Freixas
Sergi Clotet-Freixas, PhD
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Award: KRESCENT New Investigator Award
Institution: McMaster University
Year: 2024-2027
Dr. Clotet-Freixas is an early career scientist with training in nephrology and diabetes research who is passionate about the study of cell metabolism and biological sex differences. His PhD work at University of Barcelona uncovered a novel link between androgens and the metabolism of human kidney cells. Following his PhD, Dr. Clotet-Freixas became a postdoctoral researcher at the University Health Network of Toronto, where he gained expertise in proteomics methods and in the metabolic profiling of animal and clinical specimens. Now as an independent researcher, Dr. Clotet-Freixas aims to deepen the understanding of biological differences between male and female kidney cells and tissue, thus guiding the development of more personalized therapies for kidney diseases. He has a special interest in the crosstalk between metabolism and epigenetics, and his research has two primary focus areas: (1) understanding the mechanisms mediating progression of diabetic kidney disease in males and females; and (2) understanding the mechanisms of acute kidney injury leading to allograft rejection in male and female kidney transplant recipients. Clotet-Freixas’ lab couples ‘omics’ methods with cell biology and biochemistry approaches to identify novel injury mechanisms and therapeutic targets. Dr. Clotet-Freixas is always open to new collaborative initiatives that enhance our ability to understand the impact of sex in a broader range of diseases.
Adrianna
Douvris
Adrianna Douvris, MD
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Adrianna Douvris completed her M.D. at the University of Toronto, and Internal Medicine and Nephrology residencies at the University of Ottawa. She is completing her PhD as part of the Clinician Investigator Program in Ottawa under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Burns, studying microRNA therapy in acute kidney injury. Next, she will begin her post-doctoral fellowship under the supervision of Dr. William Stanford at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Her KRESCENT post-doctoral fellowship will focus on tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) kidney disease, a genetic form of kidney disease, using novel models known as kidney organoids (‘mini-kidneys’). She hopes that these models will improve our understanding of TSC kidney disease and lead to new treatment discoveries.
Janine
Farragher
Janine Farragher OT, PhD
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Farragher is a registered occupational therapist and an assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of Toronto. She completed a PhD in rehabilitation sciences from the University of Toronto, and a Post-doctoral Fellowship at the University of Calgary with the Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration.
Dr. Farragher’s research uses a rehabilitative lens to understand life participation and its enablement in people with chronic kidney disease. She has co-led studies showing that conditions such as cognitive impairment & frailty are common in kidney disease and contribute to disability, and that inpatient rehabilitation can minimize functional losses after dialysis is initiated. Dr. Farragher has also led the development and testing of a novel energy management program (The “PEP” Program) to promote life participation for people on chronic hemodialysis with debilitating fatigue. Dr. Farragher’s overarching research objective is to elucidate the broad range of cognitive, psychosocial, and environmental factors that impact life participation in chronic kidney disease, so underexamined factors can be highlighted and proactively targeted in clinical care. Dr. Farragher has been the recipient of more than $410 000 in Tri-Council training awards, and has contributed to prominent national and international kidney care initiatives such as the development of a CKD self-management website (My Kidneys, My Health) and a standardized measure of life participation for people on peritoneal dialysis therapy (SONG-PD).
Danielle
Fox
Danielle Fox, RN
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Ms. Fox is a registered nurse and doctoral student under the supervision of Drs. Robert Quinn and David Campbell in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. She is passionate about providing high-quality care and conducting research that improves healthcare systems for both patients and their families as well as for those working in healthcare. She aspires to be a clinician scientist, driving innovative and impactful research based on her clinical work. Her research interests focus on finding ways to meaningfully support people with kidney disease with the goal of creating a positive and sustainable care experience. Her doctoral work will focus specifically on co-designing person-centered models of care for people transitioning to home dialysis.
Tyrone
Harrison
Tyrone Harrison, MD, PhD
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr Harrison is an assistant professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary, where he works as a health services researcher and nephrologist. He completed his Nephrology clinical training in 2018, followed by a PhD in Health Services Research at the University of Calgary in 2022 which was sponsored by a KRESCENT post-doctoral fellowship. His current research program is focused on integrating person-centredness within risk prediction strategies and population-based cohort studies for people with chronic diseases.
His KRESCENT New Investigator award will help support work aiming to (1) identify priorities for research for people with kidney disease having surgery, (2) translate these into population-based studies of these outcomes, and (3) develop risk prediction tools for these patient-prioritized outcomes in Alberta and Manitoba.
Dr Harrison est professeur adjoint de médecine à l'Université de Calgary, où il travaille comme chercheur en services de santé et néphrologue. Il a terminé sa formation clinique en néphrologie en 2018, puis a obtenu un doctorat en recherche sur les services de santé à l'Université de Calgary en 2022, grâce à une bourse postdoctorale KRESCENT. Son programme de recherche actuel est axé sur l'intégration de l'approche centrée sur la personne dans les stratégies de prédiction des risques et les études de cohortes basées sur la population pour les personnes atteintes de maladies chroniques.
Sa bourse de nouveau chercheur KRESCENT contribuera à soutenir les travaux visant à (1) identifier les priorités de recherche pour les personnes atteintes d'une maladie rénale qui subissent une intervention chirurgicale, (2) traduire ces priorités en études de population sur ces résultats, et (3) développer des outils de prédiction des risques pour ces résultats prioritaires pour les patients en Alberta et au Manitoba.
Reetinder
Kaur
Reetinder Kaur, PhD candidate
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Ms Kaur is a doctoral student enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver under the supervision of Drs Jag Gill and Fuschia Howard. Her research interests include intersectionality in kidney transplantation and living kidney donation, and women’s access to kidney transplantation and living kidney donation.
The overarching aim of Ms Kaur’s thesis to identify cultural, social, structural, and interpersonal factors that shape decision-making among racialized women living kidney donors, and to use this information as the foundation for supporting ethical and voluntary practices in living kidney donation.
Reetinder Kaur, candidate au doctorat
Mme Kaur est une doctorante inscrite au programme d'études supérieures interdisciplinaires de l'Université de la Colombie-Britannique, à Vancouver, sous la supervision des docteurs Jag Gill et Fuschia Howard. Ses recherches portent sur l'intersectionnalité dans la transplantation rénale et le don de rein vivant, ainsi que sur l'accès des femmes à la transplantation rénale et au don de rein vivant.
L'objectif principal de la thèse de Mme Kaur est d'identifier les facteurs culturels, sociaux, structurels et interpersonnels qui façonnent la prise de décision parmi les femmes racialisées donneuses vivantes de rein, et d'utiliser ces informations comme base pour soutenir les pratiques éthiques et volontaires dans le don de rein vivant.
Caroline
Lamarche
Caroline Lamarche, MD, MSc, FRCPC
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Lamarche is a clinician scientist and transplant nephrologist at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. She is an assistant clinical professor at the Université de Montréal. After her nephrology training at the Université de Montréal (2015), she completed a Masters degree on the use of adoptive immunotherapy to treat/prevent BK nephropathy in kidney transplant recipients. She then pursued a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Megan Levings at the University of British Columbia on the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) regulatory T cells (Tregs) to induce transplant tolerance. Her goal now as a new investigator is to bring immunotherapy to improve her patient’s care.
Ping
Liu
Ping Liu, PhD
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Ping Liu is an Epidemiologist in the Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. After her clinical training in Nursing and a Master of Medical Science in Nursing (China), she completed a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Western Australia (Australia) and a CIHR-funded postdoctoral program at the University of Calgary.
Dr. Liu’s research goal is to improve the experience and quality of life of people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) by generating high-quality evidence that will inform their treatment decisions. She has contributed to the development and testing of a novel risk prediction tool for people with moderate-to-severe CKD. Her current research focuses on designing and testing risk prediction tools to inform kidney failure treatment decisions for people with advanced CKD. She is also interested in methods of risk prediction and defining CKD and kidney failure.
Dr Ping Liu est épidémiologiste au département de médecine, division de néphrologie, et professeur adjoint au département des sciences de la santé communautaire de l'université de Calgary. Après une formation clinique en soins infirmiers et une maîtrise en sciences médicales (Chine), elle a obtenu un doctorat en épidémiologie à l'université de Western Australia (Australie) et un programme postdoctoral financé par les IRSC à l'université de Calgary.
L'objectif de recherche du Dr Liu est d'améliorer l'expérience et la qualité de vie des personnes atteintes d'insuffisance rénale chronique (IRC) en produisant des données probantes de haute qualité qui éclaireront leurs décisions en matière de traitement. Elle a contribué à l'élaboration et à la mise à l'essai d'un nouvel outil de prédiction des risques pour les personnes atteintes d'une IRC modérée à sévère. Ses recherches actuelles portent sur la conception et la mise à l'essai d'outils de prédiction des risques pour éclairer les décisions relatives au traitement de l'insuffisance rénale chez les personnes atteintes d'une IRC avancée. Elle s'intéresse également aux méthodes de prédiction des risques et à la définition de l'IRC et de l'insuffisance rénale.
Thomas
Mavrakanas
Thomas Mavrakanas, MD
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Mavrakanas is a nephrologist, clinician scientist, and assistant professor at McGill University. He holds a Medical Diploma and a Master of Science degree in medical research methodology from the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. He completed his specialty training in Internal Medicine in France and Switzerland and in nephrology at McGill, and Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Mavrakanas’ research focuses on the causes of and treatments for cardiovascular disease in patients with CKD and ESRD. He has expertise in designing pharmacokinetic or cohort studies and using large datasets, and is also familiar with filing for regulatory approval of clinical trials. Dr. Mavrakanas is an expert in direct oral anticoagulants in patients with CKD, and was the first to describe the global burden of acute and chronic cardiorenal syndromes by presenting their association with all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, and stroke. His research is aimed treatment strategies to improve cardiovascular outcomes in patients with CKD and ESRD.
Dr Mavrakanas est néphrologue, clinicien-chercheur et professeur adjoint à l'Université McGill. Il est titulaire d'un diplôme de médecine et d'une maîtrise en méthodologie de la recherche médicale de l'université Aristote de Thessalonique. Il a suivi une formation spécialisée en médecine interne en France et en Suisse et en néphrologie à McGill et à la Harvard Medical School.
Les recherches du Dr Mavrakanas portent sur les causes et les traitements des maladies cardiovasculaires chez les patients atteints d'IRC et d'IRT. Il est spécialisé dans la conception d'études pharmacocinétiques ou de cohortes et dans l'utilisation de grands ensembles de données. Il est également familiarisé avec le dépôt de demandes d'approbation réglementaire d'essais cliniques. Le Dr Mavrakanas est un expert des anticoagulants oraux directs chez les patients atteints d'IRC et a été le premier à décrire le fardeau mondial des syndromes cardiorénaux aigus et chroniques en présentant leur association avec la mortalité toutes causes confondues, l'infarctus du myocarde et l'accident vasculaire cérébral. Ses recherches portent sur les stratégies de traitement visant à améliorer les résultats cardiovasculaires chez les patients atteints de maladie rénale chronique et d'insuffisance rénale terminale.
Kyle
Medak
Kyle Medak, PhD
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Kyle Medak is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Institute at Mount Sinai in Toronto. Dr. Daniel Drucker’s lab is internationally renowned for the development of incretin therapies to treat people living with obesity, diabetes, and intestinal failure. Dr. Medak aims to apply his basic science training, formerly with Dr. David Wright at the University of Guelph, in endocrinology and metabolism to his current research in the Drucker Lab and expand the purview current clinical incretin therapies to the kidney and the progression of kidney disease in people living with diabetes.
Kyle Medak est actuellement chercheur post-doctoral à l'Institut Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum de Mount Sinai à Toronto. Le laboratoire du Dr Daniel Drucker est internationalement reconnu pour le développement de thérapies à base d'incrétine pour traiter les personnes souffrant d'obésité, de diabète et d'insuffisance intestinale. Dr Medak a pour objectif d'appliquer sa formation en sciences fondamentales en endocrinologie et en métabolisme, qu'il a suivie avec le Dr David Wright à l'Université de Guelph, à ses recherches actuelles au sein du laboratoire Drucker et d'étendre la portée des thérapies incrétines cliniques actuelles aux reins et à la progression de la maladie rénale chez les personnes atteintes de diabète.
Robert
Myette
Robert L. Myette MD, MSc, FRCPC
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Myette is a pediatric nephrologist at The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and is a PhD candidate at the University of Ottawa, in the Kidney Research Center, under the supervision of Dr. Dylan Burger and Dr. Chris Kennedy. He completed his undergraduate studies at Wilfrid Laurier University and his MSc at Queen’s University. He obtained his medical training from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, and then returned to Queen’s University for his pediatric training. He then completed his pediatric nephrology fellowship training in Ottawa and was recruited as a part-time clinical nephrologist while completing his PhD. Dr. Myette aims to contribute to the understanding of molecular mechanisms associated with Pediatric Nephrotic Syndrome, which is one of the most common glomerular diseases in children. He will strive to discover new therapeutic avenues in hopes to reduce the cumulative steroid burden in these patients. Additionally, he plans to move the field forward regarding prognostication and seeks to discover ‘early warning’ molecular signals associated with disease relapse.
Ayodele
Odutaya
Ayodele Odutayo, MD, MSc, PhD, FRCPC
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Odutayo is a general internist and nephrologist. He obtained his Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Toronto in 2013 and completed his Masters of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in epidemiology from 2013-2017, both at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. His research focuses on clinical trials examining cardiovascular and renal disease and is co-funded by the Kidney Foundation of Canada.
Waleed
Rahmani
Waleed Rahmani, BSc, MD, PhD
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Waleed Rahmani is an academic nephrologist focused on the immune system's role in kidney fibrosis after acute kidney injuries. He earned his BSc in Biochemistry and Microbiology from the University of Victoria and completed a joint MD/PhD in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine from the University of Calgary in 2019. His thesis explored dermal stem cells and macrophages during skin and hair follicle regeneration. In 2024, he finished his Adult Nephrology Residency at the University of Calgary and will start a post-doctoral research fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine with Dr Benjamin Humphrey’s and Kory Lavine where he will learn cutting-edge multi-omic approaches while studying the innate immune system after ischemic kidney injuries. Waleed has received several awards, including the Internal Medicine Research Award, the Helios Post-Fellowship award, and the Krescent Post-doctoral award. He has numerous publications, given multiple national and international conference presentations and hosts The Canadian Kidney Discoveries Network’s “Kidney Corner,” a video blog where Canadian leaders in kidney disease research are interviewed. Ultimately, he aims to establish a Regenerative Nephrology research program focused at understanding regenerative failure in kidney diseases and preventing end-stage kidney failure.
Christie
Rampersad
Christie Rampersad, MD
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Rampersad has completed medical school, Internal Medicine residency, and Adult General Nephrology fellowship at the University of Manitoba. She recently completed a Kidney Transplant Fellowship at the University of Toronto. Dr. Rampersad is currently pursuing a Masters/PhD in Clinical Epidemiology at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Her research interests including exploring opportunities to optimize utilization and allocation of deceased donor kidneys for transplantation.
Dr Rampersad a terminé ses études de médecine, sa résidence en médecine interne et son stage de néphrologie générale pour adultes à l'Université du Manitoba. Elle a récemment terminé un stage de transplantation rénale à l'Université de Toronto. Le Dr Rampersad poursuit actuellement un Master/PhD en épidémiologie clinique à l'Institut de politique, de gestion et d'évaluation de la santé de l'École de santé publique Dalla Lana de l'Université de Toronto. Ses recherches portent notamment sur l'optimisation de l'utilisation et de l'attribution des reins de donneurs décédés à des fins de transplantation.
Magdalena
Riedl Khursigara
Victoria Riehl-Tonn, PhD candidate
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Ms Riehl-Tonn is a registered nurse and doctoral student under the supervision of Dr. Sofia Ahmed at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on patient outcomes in people living with chronic kidney disease and how they differ by sex and gender. She is passionate about leading patient-oriented kidney research and building research capacity.
Her goal is to develop an expertise in kidney science with a sex and gender focus and patient-oriented research to ultimately become an independent investigator, with the aim of filling this gap in the global kidney research ecosystem.
Mme Riehl-Tonn est infirmière diplômée et doctorante sous la direction du Dr Sofia Ahmed à l'Université de Calgary. Ses recherches portent sur les résultats obtenus par les patients atteints d'insuffisance rénale chronique et sur les différences entre les sexes. Elle se passionne pour la recherche rénale axée sur le patient et le renforcement des capacités de recherche.
Son objectif est de développer une expertise dans le domaine de la science rénale en mettant l'accent sur le sexe et le genre et sur la recherche orientée vers le patient pour devenir à terme un chercheur indépendant, dans le but de combler cette lacune dans l'écosystème mondial de la recherche rénale.
Victoria
Riehl Tonn
Victoria Riehl-Tonn, PhD candidate
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Ms Riehl-Tonn is a registered nurse and doctoral student under the supervision of Dr. Sofia Ahmed at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on patient outcomes in people living with chronic kidney disease and how they differ by sex and gender. She is passionate about leading patient-oriented kidney research and building research capacity.
Her goal is to develop an expertise in kidney science with a sex and gender focus and patient-oriented research to ultimately become an independent investigator, with the aim of filling this gap in the global kidney research ecosystem.
Mme Riehl-Tonn est infirmière diplômée et doctorante sous la direction du Dr Sofia Ahmed à l'Université de Calgary. Ses recherches portent sur les résultats obtenus par les patients atteints d'insuffisance rénale chronique et sur les différences entre les sexes. Elle se passionne pour la recherche rénale axée sur le patient et le renforcement des capacités de recherche.
Son objectif est de développer une expertise dans le domaine de la science rénale en mettant l'accent sur le sexe et le genre et sur la recherche orientée vers le patient pour devenir à terme un chercheur indépendant, dans le but de combler cette lacune dans l'écosystème mondial de la recherche rénale.
Cal
Robinson
Cal Robinson, MD
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Cal Robinson is currently a PhD student in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at the University of Toronto. He completed his medical training in the United Kingdom at St. Andrews and Manchester before returning to McMaster to complete pediatric residency. At McMaster he developed a passion for clinical research using population-based health administrative databases. As a SickKids pediatric nephrology fellow at SickKids, he discovered that the evidence basis used to treat most childhood kidney diseases was limited, with few clinical trials. This motivated his current PhD research, which focuses on the use of novel clinical trial and causal inference methods, including Bayesian adaptive trials and target trial emulation. He is applying these methods to compare immunosuppressive treatments in childhood nephrotic syndrome. His mission as an aspiring clinician-scientist is to advance the evidence-based treatment of pediatric kidney diseases, prevent long-term disease and treatment complications, and minimize patient and caregiver burden.
Kevin
Yau
Kevin Yau MD, FRCPC
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Yau received his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 2016 and subsequently completed internal medicine training at Western University. He returned to Toronto for his nephrology fellowship and graduated in 2021. He is currently completing a cardiac, renal, endocrinology multidisciplinary fellowship and training in clinical epidemiology & health care research as an Eliot Phillipson Scholar in the University of Toronto Clinician-Scientist Training Program. His research as a KRESCENT post-doctoral fellow will be focused on evaluating therapies for patients with cardiac and kidney disease including glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists.
Ann
Young
Ann Young, MD, PhD
KRESCENT Trainee Editorial Board Member
Dr. Ann Young received her MD and completed her internal medicine residency and nephrology fellowship at the University of Toronto. She holds a PhD in clinical epidemiology and health services research from Western University. She completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in the Clinician Investigator Program, supported by the KRESCENT program and CIHR. She is now an Assistant Professor and Clinician Investigator in the Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto. Her research program is focused on strengthening health services delivery for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Specifically, her interest is in innovative approaches to leveraging anonymized health administrative data at ICES to enable population-level case-finding of patients at high risk for kidney failure, who are not known to a nephrologist, to directly contact and connect them with needed kidney care through a new KidneyCare Outreach program. This unique approach will facilitate developing, implementing, and evaluating strategies to optimize care for patients across all stages of CKD. She also serves on the Early CKD Priority Panel for the Ontario Renal Network.