NURTuRE - the first kidney biobank
Around 3.5 million people in the UK live with kidney disease, of those 30,000 rely on dialysis to stay alive. Research is helping kidney patients to live longer, healthier lives, but we want to go further, faster.
NURTuRE is a key resource for the kidney disease research community, supporting innovative approaches to change the lives of our patients.

The UK Renal Research Strategy recognised the need for a kidney biobank. Kidney Research UK has led the collaboration with industry and academia to launch NURTuRE (the National Unified Renal Translational Research Enterprise), the first kidney biobank covering England, Scotland and Wales.
NURTuRE provides a unique resource to support important new research designed to benefits those living with kidney disease, with the first two patient groups focusing on chronic kidney disease (CKD) and idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS). In particular, NURTURE supports studies looking at a range of key research areas including:
- Identifying pathways of injury and repair
- Investigating new targets for treatments
- Looking at what might lead to different responses to treatments
- Looking at new ways of measuring and monitoring the body’s progression through different stages of kidney disease, and response to treatment (known as ‘biomarkers’)
- Promoting collaboration between research groups to benefit patients
"NURTuRE offers a unique opportunity for researchers from universities, the NHS, pharmaceuticals companies and the patient community to work together to improve treatment and diagnosis of kidney disease. Kidney Research UK are proud to be a founding member of NURTuRE and we look forward to the first results from NURTuRE studies in 2023." Michael Nation, Director of NURTuRE at Kidney Research UK
Want to get more information?
Visit the NURTuRE biobank website more further information or get in touch with the team if you would like to find out more.