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27/05/2020 - General information

Grant from the Spanish Transplant Society for a study by the Nephrology Service

The research project is on the relationship between fragility and kidney transplants and has been awarded with 30.000€

The Spanish Transplant Society has awarded the SET 2020 grant to intensify the research activity of Dr. María José Pérez Sáez, a consultant in the Nephrology Service and a researcher at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM). It is the only grant of this type that the organisation will award this year. The 30,000 euro grant will enable Dr. Pérez Sáez to work on one of the research projects currently underway in the department and IMIM, looking at fragility in the kidney transplant waiting list.

Dr. María José Pérez Sáez

The study of fragility in candidates for kidney transplants was launched by the Hospital del Mar's Nephrology Service in 2016, and currently has data from more than 500 patients. After an initial observational phase, in which the data collected will be analysed prospectively, two more phases have been designed: to biochemically characterise the fragile patient's phenotype, for which a biobank of samples has been set up; and a final intervention phase, with a pre-habilitation clinical trial in these patients while they are awaiting a transplant.

"Fragility is a common condition in kidney transplant candidates and is associated with poorer post-transplant outcomes", explains Dr. Pérez Sáez. This work, led by Dr. Julio Pascual, head of the Nephrology Service, and Dr. Ester Marco, a consultant in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service, is currently also running a project to improve quality of care (Star Project) at Hospital del Mar and has a FIS grant from the Carlos III Health Institute.

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