What are your research topics?
I study the causes and consequences of the progression of renal diseases. What particularly interests me is which factors affect the survival of dialysis and kidney transplant patients. They include age, the type of renal disease as well as the patient’s other diseases, such as cancer or cardiovascular diseases.
Impaired renal function is associated with a number of consequences, including anaemia, high blood pressure and weakened bones. Good treatment can improve patients’ prognoses.
Where and how does the topic of your research have an impact?
In Finland, roughly 2,000 individuals receive dialytic therapy, a treatment that substitutes for renal function, while more than 3,000 people have a well-functioning kidney transplant.
Through my research, I wish to improve the treatment and survival prognosis of dialysis and kidney transplant patients. At the moment, roughly 60% of patients receiving chronic dialytic therapy are alive five years after starting treatment.
What is particularly inspiring in your field right now?
Upcoming legislative amendments will improve the operating conditions of the Finnish Registry for Kidney Diseases, making it possible to utilise the data even better than before. This will bring about new research opportunities.
Patrik Finne is a professor of nephrology at the Faculty of Medicine.
Watch Patrik Finne’s inaugural lecture as a new professor on YouTube.