The Hamilton Centre for Kidney Research (HCKR) is directly affiliated with the Division of Nephrology located at St. Joseph's Healthcare. Mandate of the HCKR is to combine our expertise in clinical and basic research so that we can reduce the risk of kidney disease and its complications.

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton is a fully-accredited teaching hospital and academic health sciences centre affiliated with McMaster University.

A website for the HCKR will allow the researchers to showcase their discoveries and provide a forum for the dissemination of information related to kidney disease and to recruit trainees and physicians interested in kidney research.

Contact person:
Richard C. Austin, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine Division of Nephrology
McMaster University
Career Investigator of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario
Amgen Canada Chair in Nephrology
Phone 905.522.1155 ext. 35175 Fax 905.540.6589

The primary role of the kidney is to remove waste products from the blood and return the cleaned blood to the body.  Nephrology is a medical specialty focused on the study of the kidney, its structure, function and the diseases and ailments that can affect its proper functioning.  Each day, as many as 14 Canadians learn their kidneys have failed and over 30,000 Canadians are currently on dialysis.    

 Nephrology Research Report 2007-2008