28 feb | 2025

Team of researchers from the University of Maia and NephroCare honoured with the highest research award in the field of nephrology

.

The winning team is made up of Pedro Martins, Diogo Leal, Aníbal Ferreira, Kenneth Wilund and João Viana.

.

The National Association of Dialysis Centres (ANADIAL), together with the Portuguese Society of Nephrology (SPN), has just awarded the work entitled ‘The association of intradialytic exercise with mortality and hospitalisation: a cohort study’, developed as part of a partnership between the Sports, Health and Human Development Research Centre at the University of Maia and NephroCare, with the highest research prize in the field of nephrology, worth 10,000 euros.

According to Pedro Martins, first author of the study: ‘This research has demonstrated for the first time an important association between participation in an intradialytic exercise programme implemented at national level, which corresponds to physical exercise carried out during haemodialysis, and the risk of mortality and hospitalisation in this population. It also leaves important clues about the need to continue developing complementary strategies to combat the complex problem of physical inactivity in this population.’

João Viana, coordinator of the research team, emphasises that: ‘This award is an important recognition of our work, but above all an incentive to continue researching the best strategies for increasing physical activity in this population, as well as translating them into generalised clinical practice. We believe that an even more personalised intervention, which takes into account the preferences and needs of each patient, can bring even more benefits to patients’ quality of life, and this is our main goal.’

This year, the ‘ANADIAL-SPN’ research prize also awarded three honourable mentions to the following works: ‘Potassium intake – (Un)expected non-predictor of higher serum potassium levels in haemodialysis patients following the DASH dietary pattern’ by Cristina Garagarza Antunes, nutritionist and director of the nutrition department at NephroCare; ‘Geriatric assessment to improve patient-centred care for chronic kidney disease’ by Ana Farinha, nephrologist at the Arrábida Local Health Unit (ULS); and “Analysis of genetic factors of kidney disease progression in the Portuguese population” by Filipe dos Santos Mira, nephrologist at the Coimbra ULS.

The jury was made up of Pedro Ponce, Fernando Macário, Ana Paiva and Eduardo Costa, nominated by ANADIAL, and Edgar Almeida and Luís Coentrão, nominated by SPN.

The ‘ANADIAL-SPN’ Prize, which is awarded annually, aims to promote clinical studies and epidemiological assessments in the area of Chronic Renal Failure Research, with particular relevance to the identification of risk factors and preventive interventions for the evolution of chronic kidney disease.