We are at a uniquely transformative moment in the history of healthcare, where the union of medical knowledge, technology and data science is revolutionizing medicine paving the way for personalised Medicine.
As researchers, together with physicians, our mission is to ensure that the detection, diagnosis, treatment and even prevention of disease transform the lives of people around the world faster and more effectively by ensuring the right treatment for the individual patient at the right time.
Each person is unique and, in many ways, so are diseases. The digital revolution in medicine offers new ways to collect high-quality individual data and connect it to larger group data for further analysis. This allows us to arrive at a greater understanding of how to treat each person. Only then will we be able to see what distinguishes each of us as individuals and translate that into more personalized and therefore improved care for each person.
Aging of the global population is causing a rising in the prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), which is affecting more than 10% of the population worldwide, presenting a major health challenge. CKD is a progressive disease, leading in most cases to the need of renal replacement therapy (dialysis or renal transplantation), which associates with high mortality rates and significant economic burden. Early detection of CKD and efficient treatments are needed to prevent or delay reaching the end stage of the disease (ESRD).
RESPECT has a strong personalized medicine dimension, aiming at improving CKD personalised management by taking renal MRI closer to clinical practice. RESPECT will advance the field towards clinical use of renal MRI biomarkers to significantly improve CKD personalised management, by helping to diagnose CKD from its earliest stages, to stratify patients, to target current treatments and to assess novel treatments that could slow or even halt CKD progression. Improved personalised medicine for CKD will significantly reduce progression to ESRD and need for dialysis treatment, resulting in large savings for the healthcare system and improving people’s quality of life.