EUTRIPD · European Training and Research in Peritoneal Dialysis

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) and haemodialysis (HD) are life-saving renal replacement therapies for more than 200,000 patients with chronic kidney disease in Europe, and this number increases annually. Although PD and HD have similar mortality rates, PD offers major advantages in terms of quality of life, costs, home-based treatment opportunities and early patient survival. Moreover, PD, rather than HD, offers opportunities for improvements. Nevertheless, only 10% of patients in Europe are treated with PD. Presently, PD research faces a significant shortage in workforce, probably through competition with other specialisations, the absence of a coherent training program and limited trans-European collaboration.The EuTRiPD consortium consists of eight research institutes, an SME and a large private company throughout eight of the EU Member States. Additionally, one multi-national company and three (inter)national organizations that promote education, scholarly excellence and public awareness will be associate partners. Each partner has internationally recognized expertise in PD, ranging from basic to bedside research and from raising awareness on kidney diseases to commercialisation of project results.By providing an inter-disciplinary and intersectoral long lasting training programme in PD research, EuTRiPD will address this need for researchers and clinicians in renal diseases.The scientific goal of EuTRiPD is to advance the current state of the art in PD by carrying out bench to bedside research, focused on the identification of biomarkers and interventions that promote survival and function of the peritoneal membrane. This will finally result in the clinical implementation of new therapeutic approaches.EuTRiPD will deliver twelve skilled ESRs with excellent career opportunities in nephrology and PD research. The unique set up of this training program will equip them with the skills to pursue a career in other disciplines and sectors should they choose to do so.