Awardees

Award: KRESCENT New Investigator Award
Institution: McGill University
Year: 2015-2018

Dr. Sapir-Pichhadze is a new investigator at the McGill University Health Centre and an Assistant Professor, Division of Nephrology and Multi-Organ Transplant Program, at McGill University. She completed subspecialty training in nephrology and kidney transplantation at the University of Toronto, and also completed the Eliot Phillipson Clinician Scientist Program and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Clinician Investigator Program, where she undertook a Ph.D. in clinical epidemiology and health care research. Her doctoral studies focused on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and prognosis of antibody-mediated injury secondary to the production of anti-human leukocyte antigen antibodies in kidney transplant recipients and candidates.

Rejection is the leading cause of kidney transplant loss. Antibody-mediated rejection occurs when kidney transplant recipients develop antibodies towards the donor tissue. Donor-specific antibodies emerge as a consequence of structural incompatibility between donor-recipient Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLAs). The objective of Dr. Sapir-Pichhadze’s research is to identify strategies that minimize mismatches between donors and recipients and thereby diminish the risk of rejection and kidney transplant loss.