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Dr. Joshua Kausman (MBBS FRACP) is the principal doctor in charge of the research facility and developments which the Magdalene Foundation is dedicated to help fund. Read here, his account of what he regards as the critical understanding behind research into kidney diseases and damages:
“Much of my focus in treating children with kidney disease is directed at controlling an immune system which is attacking the kidney. Both the treatment of glomerulonephritis (a leading cause of kidney disease) and management of a kidney transplant patients require control of the body’s immune system to prevent damage to the kidney. The former to stop misguided destruction, the latter to prevent destruction of a “foreign” kidney. An understanding of the mechanisms that underpin this immune attack on the kidney is therefore fundamental to improving treatments. I therefore dedicated my research to exploring the role of a particular cell known as the dendritic cell (DC). The DC is uniquely potent at detecting and presenting foreign material and thereby stimulating the immune system. It is therefore critical in the process of immune-mediated kidney damage. Altering the behaviour of these cells offers the possibility of providing more effective, more targeted and better tolerated treatments. Knowledge of DCs in the kidney has only emerged over the last 5-10 years and my studies expand the understanding of the fundamental characteristics of these cells”.
And the following is Dr Joshua Kausman’s history of study, qualifications and experience:
He trained in medicine at Melbourne University (1990-1995). After completing paediatric training, he undertook advanced training as Paediatric Nephrology fellow at Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne (2002-2004). He subsequently completed a clinical fellowship at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, UK (2004-2005).
On return from UK, Dr Kausman commenced his PhD studies into immune mechanisms of renal disease at the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, Monash Medical Centre. In 2008, prior to completing this research, he accepted a consultant nephrologists appointment at the Royal Children’s Hospital.