News and Events

PICKED Celebrates World Kidney Day at Hospital Rangueil, Toulouse

14.03.2025

On the occasion of World Kidney Day, the RF lab team at Hospital Rangueil, Toulouse, actively engaged the public in raising awareness about kidney health. The event aimed at educating attendees on kidney functions, risks of kidney diseases, preventive measures, and current treatment methods.

During this educational event, participants had the opportunity to interact directly with lab members, gaining valuable insights into kidney health. Topics covered included kidney diseases, kidney stones, and general kidney functionality. Additionally, an interactive quiz tested attendees' knowledge about kidneys. Can you answer these correctly?

Kidney Health Quiz:

1. Are we able to live with only one kidney?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Yes, but only for a few months

2. The principal roles of the kidney are:
a) Filter the blood and eliminate waste.
b) Produce hormones and vitamins.
c) Maintain a good proportion of water in the organism.

3. What is the water proportion in our bodies?
a) 20%
b) 40%
c) 60%

4. Everyday our kidneys filter a quantity of blood of approximately:
a) 5 liters
b) 70 liters
c) 350 liters

5. End-stage kidney disease is defined when kidneys work less than:
a) 50%
b) 30%
c) 15%

6. Renal failure is called ‘silent’ because:
a) You can’t hear kidneys with a stethoscope when they malfunction.
b) It progresses slowly and without apparent symptoms.
c) It affects vocal cords.

7. What is a kidney stone?
a) Crystals that block urinary tracts.
b) Stones consumed and passed towards the kidney.
c) The formula to calculate renal function.

Think you know the answers? Write us to find out: projectpicked@proton.me

Let's keep spreading awareness and knowledge about kidney health together!

World Kidney Day: Raising Awareness & Advancing Personalized Medicine in CKD

13.03.2025

Understanding the Burden of Kidney Disease

Kidney disease is a global health crisis affecting over 850 million people worldwide. That’s twice the number of individuals living with diabetes and more than 20 times those affected by HIV/AIDS. Despite its prevalence, awareness about kidney health remains critically low, leading to late diagnoses and limited treatment options for many patients.

At PICKED (Personalized Medicine in Chronic Kidney Disease), we recognize the urgent need for better prevention, early detection, and innovative treatments to improve outcomes for those living with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

How PICKED is Driving Innovation

Advancing Personalized Medicine

PICKED is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network committed to training the next generation of kidney researchers. Our goal is to develop precision medicine approaches that improve early detection, disease progression monitoring, and treatment strategies for CKD.

Cutting-Edge Research
Through biomarker discovery, bioinformatics, and patient-centered research, our international team of 10 beneficiaries and 10 associated partners across Europe is working to revolutionize kidney care.

Collaborative Efforts for a Healthier Future
By combining expertise from nephrology, molecular biology, and healthcare innovation, we strive to bridge the gap between research and clinical application, ensuring that patients receive the most effective, individualized treatments possible.

What You Can Do This World Kidney Day

Educate yourself – Understand the risk factors and symptoms of kidney disease.
Advocate for change – Support policies that prioritize kidney disease research and treatment access.
Spread awareness – Share this article and engage in conversations about kidney health.

Kidney health is vital to overall well-being, yet it often doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. Let’s work together to change that!

Join us in raising awareness for kidney disease and supporting personalized medicine in nephrology.

PICKED & DISCO-I Joint Meeting in Toulouse: Advancing Kidney Research Together

Gaspard Delaruelle

10.03.2025

We are pleased to announce the upcoming PICKED & DISCO-I Joint Meeting, set to take place from May 13–15, 2025, at the Institut des Maladies Métaboliques et Cardiovasculaires (I2MC) in Toulouse, France. This three-day event will bring together doctoral candidates, leading experts, and distinguished speakers from across Europe to foster collaboration, share knowledge, and advance research in kidney disease and innovative omics technologies.

A Platform for Scientific Exchange and Innovation

The PICKED (Personalized Medicine in Chronic Kidney Disease) and DISCO-I (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-DN-ID) projects are committed to training a new generation of researchers in nephrology and omics-based approaches. This joint meeting will serve as a key milestone in strengthening interdisciplinary research and providing participants with valuable skills in personalized medicine.

Agenda Highlights

The event features an engaging program, including:

🔹 Doctoral Candidate Presentations: An opportunity for PICKED and DISCO-I researchers to showcase their work and receive feedback from experts.
🔹 Workshops on Kidney Disease & Omics Technologies: Covering topics such as renal replacement therapy, metagenomics, biomarker discovery, and integrating omics data for drug discovery.
🔹 Clinical and Translational Research Discussions: Addressing acute and chronic kidney disease, pediatric and rare kidney diseases, and patient-centered research.
🔹 Professional Development & Ethics Training: Covering research ethics, effective scientific communication, and career planning.

Renowned speakers, including Julie Klein, Franz Schaefer, Raymond Vanholder, Peter Rossing, and Harald Mischak, will contribute their expertise, ensuring a dynamic and thought-provoking program.

Strengthening Research Networks

Beyond the scientific sessions, the meeting will facilitate networking and collaboration among participants. Attendees will have the chance to engage in discussions, share best practices, and explore opportunities for future research partnerships.

Harnessing AI for Research Productivity: Key Takeaways from Our Online Seminar

07.03.2025

The integration of artificial intelligence into research is revolutionizing the way scholars discover, analyze, and present information. On February 21, 2025, we had the pleasure of hosting an insightful online seminar titled "(Ethical) AI & Productivity Solutions for Research." Led by Sajjad Biglari, a PICKED Doctoral Candidate, the session explored the growing role of AI in research and provided participants with a toolkit of powerful digital resources.

With the ever-increasing volume of academic literature and data-driven research, AI offers innovative ways to enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and improve the overall quality of scholarly work. However, these benefits come with important ethical considerations, particularly regarding data integrity, bias, and responsible AI usage. The seminar aimed to strike a balance between technological advancement and research ethics, offering practical insights to attendees.

AI in Research: Transforming Productivity

During the session, participants were introduced to a structured research workflow where AI can play a pivotal role. From literature review to data extraction, analysis, and writing, AI-powered tools can significantly reduce time spent on repetitive tasks, allowing researchers to focus on critical thinking and innovation.

From Discovery to Writing: A Smarter Research Process

One of the key takeaways was how AI can support researchers across different stages of their work:

Literature Review & Understanding Connections: Tools like Elicit, Consensus, Afforai, STORM, and SCISPACE help researchers find and summarize relevant academic papers quickly, reducing the burden of sifting through countless publications manually.

Identifying Related Research: AI-powered platforms such as Connected Papers, Research Rabbit, Litmaps, and scite.ai enable researchers to explore how different studies interconnect, offering a visual map of relevant literature.

Data Extraction & Summarization: AI models like Mapify, NotebookLM, and ChatGPT’s AutoExpert Academic assist in summarizing complex papers, making it easier to extract key findings and insights.

Data Analysis & Visualization: Research often involves working with large datasets, and AI tools such as Julius help analyze and visualize data effectively, leading to more accurate and compelling presentations.

Writing, Citing, and Proofreading: Writing assistance tools like Jenni.ai and SCISPACE offer real-time suggestions to improve clarity and coherence in academic papers.

Beyond AI, the session also highlighted traditional research tools that continue to be invaluable, such as Zotero for reference management, Notion and Obsidian for note-taking, BioRender for scientific illustrations, and TERA tools for systematic reviews.

Ethical AI Use in Research: The Responsibility of Scholars

While AI provides immense benefits, it is not without its challenges. A key discussion point was the ethical considerations researchers must take into account when integrating AI into their workflow. As AI-generated content becomes more sophisticated, issues such as data bias, misinterpretation of results, and the potential for AI-generated misinformation require careful oversight.

The seminar also explored the issue of AI-generated text detection, referencing recent studies on how AI content is often misidentified by detection tools. Researchers were encouraged to use AI responsibly, ensuring proper citation of AI-generated insights and maintaining transparency in their methodologies.

Further Exploration

The seminar provided an engaging discussion on the future of AI in research, leaving attendees with valuable insights and tools to enhance their productivity. As AI continues to evolve, embracing it thoughtfully and ethically will be key to ensuring its positive impact on academia.

For updates on future events, workshops, and advancements in research, stay connected with our network!

Report: EP PerMed hosts first conference on personalised medicine research

24.02.2025 by Jeremy Power

Last week, the European Partnership for Personalised Medicine (EP PerMed)hosted their first conference on personalised medicine research in Berlin. It was an ideal setting for experts to share their current research and discuss the value of personalised medicine in a changing global healthcare system. It was also an opportunity for the coordinator and project leads of EP PerMed to present the mission and objectives of one of Europe’s leading partnerships for PM.

EP PerMed continues the work of ERA PerMed (2017–2023) as a coordinating platform to align research and funding for personalised medicine research projects and is supported by national and regional funding agencies and the European Commission.

The conference held a number of workshops and keynote speakers from different disciplines and research groups. The sessions included discussions on personalised prevention of at-risk patients, the use of artificial intelligence in digital twins and clinical consultations, and advancements in biomarker-driven treatment. There was an important session on personalised medicine in paediatric nephrotic syndrome and the use of -omics technology to stratify paediatric disease to allow for targeted treatments. The discussion of the scientific and implementation techniques of these projects offered valuable insights for similar applications in the PICKED project.

During the presentations and debates, there were repeated concerns that current data regulations cause delays in research projects, especially when working with international cohorts. Many participants called for less confusing regulatory pathways and a harmonised legal landscape. In addition, researchers shared their struggles of implementing basic research into the clinic. For example, there were concerns that the clinical uptake of personalised medicine innovations is slow and variable across EU member states. This could be partly due to a lack of interest to pursue the implementation of existing innovations, as this part of the research process is often more difficult and less financially feasible. Thus, there was a call for more research protocols to include implementation methods. Some participants suggested that EP PerMed extend funding periods to ensure that innovations are funded from inception to clinical use.

These concerns of data regulation and implementation are nothing new in the field of personalised medicine. Indeed, neither is the debate of whether ethics are a help or a hinderance to biomedical research. However, it was interesting to reflect on the absence of ethical reflection on these topics. Bioethical guidance plays an essential role in ensuring that the rights and needs of patients are protected while data sharing practices are streamlined. Bioethics should be considered as a means to improve the efficiency of implementation of personalised medicine, rather than being seen as frustrating “red tape” that restricts it. It is an opportunity to support good research by continuously involving alternative perspectives, making biomedical research more robust and aligned with patient needs. This readies research for its intended clinical purpose and may increase its uptake by healthcare professionals.

To conclude, the conference allowed for new collaborations with young and experienced researchers across the world. These connections are invaluable to understand the research process from different disciplines, to engage with the specific challenges of personalised medicine research and to realise the goals of improving the health and wellbeing of patients.

I am very grateful to EP PerMed for organising the conference and to the PICKED project for the opportunity to attend the conference, and I hope to bring what I have learnt into my research and to the PICKED team.

New PICKED Project Publication on Computational Drug Repositioning!

17.02.2025

We are thrilled to announce a new PICKED project publication, exploring the potential of computational drug repositioning in tackling cardiorenal disease!

The search for new therapeutic uses of existing drugs has gained increasing momentum, offering a promising pathway to accelerate drug discovery and bring innovative treatments to patients faster. This article highlights cutting-edge bioinformatics, omics data integration, and network-based modeling approaches to identify novel therapeutic opportunities.

Despite significant progress, challenges remain in translating computational findings into real-world clinical applications. The study proposes targeted strategies to overcome these barriers, ensuring that repositioned drugs reach patients in need.

🔗 Read the full article here: DOI: 10.1002/pmic.202400109

This publication is another milestone for PICKED, reinforcing our mission to drive translational research, precision medicine, and clinical innovation. Stay tuned for more groundbreaking research!

Second PICKED Project publication on Clinical Proteomics!

11.02.2025

We are excited to share the second publication supported by the PICKED project, focusing on the evolution and challenges of clinical proteomics in healthcare!

With over 40,000 scientific publications, the field has seen significant progress, yet clinical application remains limited. This article critically examines the barriers preventing proteomics from translating into routine patient care and emphasizes the need for a patient-centric approach. We propose concrete solutions to align research efforts with clinical utility, ensuring that proteomics delivers on its promise to improve disease management and treatment.

🔗 Read the full article here: DOI: 10.1002/pmic.202400346

This publication marks another important milestone for PICKED, strengthening our mission to drive translational research, personalized medicine, and real-world healthcare advancements. Stay tuned for more impactful research!

We are excited to share the first publication from the PICKED project, authored by our colleagues in Madrid!

03.02.2025

The article, published in PubMed, explores the potential of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs) as transformative agents in the management of chronic kidney disease (CKD), type 2 diabetes (T2DM), obesity, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). These medications, including liraglutide, semaglutide, and tirzepatide, have shown significant benefits in metabolic control, weight reduction, and cardiovascular protection, making them an important consideration for nephrologists.

🔗 Read the full article here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39583142/

This marks an exciting milestone for the PICKED project, contributing valuable insights to the intersection of nephrology, metabolic health, and personalized medicine. Stay tuned for more publications to come!

PICKED Kick-off

18.10.2024

We just wrapped up a fantastic virtual kick-off meeting for the PICKED project! By hosting it online, we’re not only bringing our team together from across Europe but also reducing our carbon footprint. We’re excited about the journey ahead and will keep you updated on our progress. Stay tuned for more developments in personalized care and collaborative research!