PREGNANCY IN WOMEN WITH CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE OF ALL STAGES, INCLUDING WOMEN ON DIALYSIS AND WITH KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS
With
Professor Shilpanjali Jesudason
Head of Unit, Central and Northern Adelaide Renal and Transplantation Service (CNARTS),
Royal Adelaide Hospital,
Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) &
Clinical Professor, University of Adelaide, South Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Adelaide, South Australia | March 2025
Professor Shilpanjali Jesudason is an academic nephrologist and Head of Department at the Royal Adelaide Hospital’s Central Northern Adelaide Renal and Transplant Service, South Australia.
From 2017-2020, she was the Clinical Director of Kidney Health Australia, the peak body for patients with kidney disease. In this role she developed a passion for advancing kidney disease education in primary care.
She is the founder and Program Lead for Pregnancy and Kidney Research Australia, co-leads the new ISN Train the Trainer Program for Pregnancy and Kidney Disease, and is the inaugural chair of the Australian and Zealand Dialysis and Transplantation Registry (ANZDATA) Parenthood working group.
She is founding chair of the ANZ Society of Nephrology Pacific Working Group, and has been a supporter of nephrology development in her birth country of Fiji.
In 2025, she was awarded the Roscoe R. Robinson award for outstanding contributions to nephrology, by the International Society of Nephrology.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9695-0761
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Big data to improve the use of antidepressant medicines in aged care
Georgina Hughes is a pharmacist & PhD Candidate with the University of South Australia Clinical and Health Sciences and the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA), undertaking research at South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).
Georgina’s PhD study and first published paper was on how to improve the safe and effective use of antidepressant medicines and optimise quality use of medicines in older people accessing residential aged care.
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Better biomarkers for predicting the incidence of having atherosclerosis and heart attack
Assoc Prof Bursill is a vascular biologist with interests and expertise in vascular inflammation, atherosclerosis and angiogenesis. She completed her PhD at The University of Adelaide in lipid metabolism then headed to Oxford University for five years to undergo a postdoctoral post in the Departments of Cardiovascular Medicine and Pathology. Her postdoctoral time triggered her interest in the mechanisms that cause atherosclerosis and in particular the role of small inflammatory proteins called chemokines.
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World-first clinical trial improves patient outcomes for kidney transplants (2023)
A world-first clinical trial conducted at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) and at hospitals across Australia and New Zealand has identified the best fluid treatment to reduce the risk of patients requiring dialysis after a kidney transplant.
Around one in three people who receive a kidney transplant suffer delayed graft function, which means the transplant doesn’t work immediately and they require dialysis.
The lead-author of the study, was Royal Adelaide Hospital Nephrologist and University of Adelaide researcher, Dr Michael Collins.
