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1995 …2023

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Personal profile

Biography

Professor A Richard Kitching is a nephrologist physician-scientist in the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases within the Department of Medicine. He heads a group working or autoimmune vasculitis, with a particular interest on how the immune system injures the kidney. His clinical practice in Nephrology and Vasculitis helps define important questions in the causes of immune kidney disease and how they can be better treated.

His research focuses on autoimmune vasculitis, conditions that often cause rapidly progressive inflammatory kidney disease (rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis). By understanding the involvement of leukocytes (white blood cells) in glomerulonephritis, an important cause of kidney disease, we will be able to develop and use more targeted and effective treatments.

His research program has established the role of pathogenic and protective cellular immunity in rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, and defined the key parts of molecules (autoantigens) that cause disease so that antigen specific treatments are not possible.

The causes of severe rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, important conditions that result in end stage kidney disease, are unclear. These diseases are usually due to autoimmune vasculitis, but unfortunately, current treatments are toxic and ineffective. Medications that are the current standard of care have significant toxic effects – and without a better understanding of how disease occurs, it will be difficult to develop new treatments. To use more specific biological and cellular therapies, we need to understand the critical steps in how the disease develops.

Professor Kitching's research has been funded by NHMRC Project Grants, an NHMRC grant within a European Union Horizon 20/20 Consortium and an NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence. His publications include papers in Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Reviews Disease Primers, PNAS, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Nature Communications, Blood, Nature Reviews Nephrology, The Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and Kidney International.

He serves on the Editorial Boards of J Am Soc Nephrol, Kidney International, Clin J Am Soc Nephrol, and Internal and Emergency Medicine. He is an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Immunology and a Section Editor for the journal Nephrology.

He heads the Monash Health Vasculitis Clinic and is Co-Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nephrology Research Advisory Committee.

In 2018 he and colleagues established the ANZ Vasculitis Society (ANZVASC, https://www.anzvasculitis.org/) to improve clinical care and education in vasculitis, and to assist in translating research discoveries into clinical practice.

For publications, please see

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Kitching+AR

Clinical activities

Richard Kitching works at Monash Health as a Nephrologist and Paediatric Nephrologist.

In Adult Nephrology his work is focussed on immune kidney conditions: glomerulonephrtis, vasculitis, lupus nephrits and transplantation. He leads the reserach intensive Monash Vasculitis Clinic,

In Paediatric Nephrology he works with his colleagues across the range of kidney conditions that affect children.

All his work is in the public system - he does not run a private practice.

Consulting

Professor Kitching is available for consulting in the research areas of vasculitis, glomerulonephritis, and other forms of immune kidney disease.

Community service

In 2018 he and colleagues in Australia and New Zealand from the disciplines of Clinical Immunology, Nephrology and Rheumatology founded the ANZ Vasculitis Society (ANZVASC) a patient facing multidisciplinary professional society to improve vasculitis education, research and care in Australia and New Zealand.

He is the inaugural Chair of the Board of this charity.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities

Education/Academic qualification

Medicine, PhD, MONASH UNIVERSITY

14 Jul 199528 Jul 1999

Award Date: 28 Jul 1999

Medicine, MB ChB (with distinction), University of Otago

Award Date: 11 Dec 1987

External positions

Chair, Board of Directors, Australia and New Zealand Vasculitis Society (ANZVASC)

Nephrologist, Monash Health

Paediatric Nephrologist, Monash Health

Research area keywords

  • Glomerulonephritis
  • Autoimmune Diseases
  • T cells
  • Personalised Immunology
  • Immunoregulation
  • Vasculitis
  • Regulatory T cells

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