Prevention

Advancing research in prevention of kidney disease 

Kidney disease should not be inevitable. Many of the biological, genetic and environmental factors that drive its development can be identified and targeted.  

• We want to understand who is most at risk, and to get ahead of kidney disease by intervening before it starts. 
• We want more people to have good kidney health for as long as possible.

Primary prevention of kidney disease requires a better understanding of who is at greatest risk, why risk develops, and how it can be reduced before kidney damage occurs. We want to support research that generates new insights into the biological, genetic, environmental and social drivers of kidney disease, and translates these insights into earlier identification, targeted interventions and more effective prevention strategies. 

Research in this area should help to: 

• Identify and stratify people at greatest risk of kidney disease, including those with elevated risk from early life, inherited conditions, multiple long-term conditions or exposure to social and environmental risk factors. 

• Understand the mechanisms that lead to kidney disease and its treatment, and identify new targets for prevention. 

• Develop and test interventions that reduce risk, delay onset or interrupt disease pathways, including therapies for hereditary kidney conditions. 

• Address inequalities in kidney disease incidence by tackling the social, environmental and commercial determinants that shape risk, access to prevention and long-term kidney health. 

• Generate evidence that can be translated into prevention approaches for use in clinical practice, public health and community settings.