NEWSLETTER ::: NO. 22 ::: NOV 2021 DEAR I'm delighted to present the latest edition of the NCCR Kidney.CH newsletter! This issue delves into the intersection of digital technology and kidney research. How are "virtual kidneys" changing the way we work? What can artificial intelligence discover about kidney disease? Read on to learn more. Happy reading! Juliet Manning EDITORIAL Aurelie Edwards   THE POWER OF COMBINING EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES The ultimate goal of computational kidney models is to someday enable personalized therapies for patients with kidney disease. Current models seek to elucidate fundamental mechanisms and signaling cascades, to investigate the impact of gain- or loss-of-function mutations, to provide an integrated understanding of multi-level systems, and to predict the impact of drugs and other therapeutic interventions. » read more LEAD Image by Diego Rossinelli and Willy Kuo, provided by Vartan Kurtcuoglu.   THE VIRTUAL KIDNEY The idea of virtual organs —digital representations of organ physiology— promises nearly boundless research opportunities by means of virtual experiments. Imagine investigating kidney function without worrying about ethics committees, long breeding times, or compliance of test subjects. Imagine studying the effect of gene mutations by the stroke of a button. How far away are we from replacing in vivo models by in silico representations? And how will such models change the role of kidney researchers? » read more PORTRAIT Dr. Thomas Naert   DR. THOMAS NAERT Dr Thomas Naert is a post-doctoral researcher at the Lienkamp Lab in the University of Zurich‘s Institute of Anatomy. His work recently earned him a prestigious fellowship under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme. » read more NCCR SAYS “HELLO, KIDNEY!” AT SCIENTIFICA 2021 The NCCR was pleased to participate in this year’s Scientifica event, which was held at campuses across Zurich on September 4-5, under the theme "Synthetic, Naturally”. Over 25’000 visitors attended the event. The NCCR hosted an interactive information booth where the public could get up close and personal with the kidney – both in its digital and natural forms. » read more ZURICH KIDNEY CENTRE TO LAUNCH AT UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH A new centre of competence in kidney research is set to open in 2022. The Zurich Kidney Centre (ZKC), based out of the University of Zurich, will maintain and build upon the network and collaborations established under the NCCR Kidney.CH, which will complete its 12-year run at the end of 2022. » read more #NCCRWOMEN CAMPAIGN CELEBRATES WOMEN IN RESEARCH To celebrate the 50th anniversary of women obtaining the right to vote in Switzerland, the 22 active NCCRs have joined forces in an online video campaign, with the aim of showing how women occupy a central place in research in almost all scientific fields. » read more EVENTS “BENCH 2 BIZ” WORKSHOP 15-29 November 2021 (Virtual) 53RD ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SWISS SOCIETY OF NEPHROLOGY 09-10 December, 2021 Congress Centre Kursaal, Interlaken, Switzerland 11TH KIDNEY.CH RETREAT 2022 27-28 January, 2022 Centre Löwenberg, Murten, Switzerland LS2 ANNUAL MEETING 2022 17-18 February, 2022 (Satellite 16 February 2022) University of Geneva, Switzerland NCCR KIDNEY.CH CLOSING EVENT 30-31 August, 2022 UZH Aula, Zurich NCCR Kidney.CH Institute of Anatomy University of Zurich Winterthurerstrasse 190 8057 Zurich | Switzerland www.nccr-kidney.ch katharina.thomas@uzh.ch Kidney - Control of Homeostasis is a Swiss research initiative, headquartered at University of Zurich, which brings together leading specialists in experimental and clinical nephrology and physiology from the universities of Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Lausanne, and Zurich, and corresponding university hospitals.