Multiple prizes for nephrological researchers

During the combined Dutch Nephrology Days and Scientific Fall symposium of the Dutch Federation for Nephrology (NFN), a rain of prizes was collected by researchers from the research theme Renal Disorders.

NFN Fall Symposium best abstracts

Daan ‘t Hart (supervisors Tom Nijenhuis and Johan van der Vlag) and Baranca Buijsers (supervisor Johan van der Vlag) won the first and second prize, respectively, for best abstract presentation at the NFN Scientific Fall symposium. Daan’s abstract, entitled “Say NO to podocyte injury”, discussed a novel paracellular signaling pathway between endothelium and podocyte offering a putative new treatment option by repurposing the drug Riociguat. Baranca’s abstract was on the crucial role of plasma heparanase activity in COVID-19, a timely topic.

Dutch Nephrology Days best fundamental abstract

Jitske Janssen (supervisors Bart Smeets and Michiel Schreuder) won the award for best fundamental research abstract at the Dutch Nephrology Days for her abstract on the use of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived kidney organoid to model nephrotic syndrome.

Best thesis awards in Nephrology

In the top 3 of 2019 Nephrology theses, 2 out of 3 originated from the Radboudumc. Anneke Bech (supervisors Tom Nijenhuis and Jack Wetzels) won the third prize in this category for her thesis entitled “Diagnosis and treatment of renal tubular disorders”. The prize for the best thesis, enabled by the Dutch Kidney Foundation and the NFN, was awarded to Kioa Wijnsma (supervisors Nicole van de Kar, Bert van den Heuvel, Jack Wetzels and Elena Volokhina) for her thesis on hemolytic uremic syndrome.