Awardees
 

Supervisor(s):  Amit Garg
Award:  KRESCENT Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Institution:  London Health Sciences Centre Research Inc. (Lawson Health Research Institute)
Year:  2022-2025

Study title:  Pregnancy outcomes among living kidney donors

Biography
Dr. Carol Wang completed her M.D. at the University of Alberta, internal medicine residency at the University of Ottawa and Nephrology training at Western University. As part of the Clinician Investigator Program, she has embarked on graduate studies towards a MSc in clinical epidemiology in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University. Her clinical and research interests are in kidney transplantation, including improving access to kidney transplant and outcomes following living donation. Under the supervision of clinician-scientist Dr. Amit Garg, she will study pregnancy outcomes amongst living kidney donors.

Lay Summary
People with kidney failure depend on one of two treatments to survive: dialysis or a kidney transplant. Kidney transplant recipients enjoy longer lifespans and a better quality of life than patients on dialysis. Women of child-bearing age make up the majority of kidney donors. These women may wish to conceive after kidney donation and need to be informed of how and whether donating a kidney may impact their future pregnancies. Our current knowledge of the increased risks of high blood pressure during pregnancy and preeclampsia in living kidney donors is based on only three studies, and information on other important mom and baby outcomes is lacking. To provide this information, we will study living kidney donors in four provinces from 1992-2022. Our study will provide precise estimates of perinatal outcomes in living kidney donors compared with similar non-donors. The study results can be used to help women of childbearing age make informed decisions about whether to become living kidney donors.