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From astro physics to kidney health, Dr. Morteza Ahmadi shares his journey going from a graduate student in black hole physics to KRESCENT Fellow to the founder of a start-up biotechnology company, Qidni Labs, centered on transforming dialysis care.

Dr. Ahmadi began his academic career in physics, earning a master’s degree in black hole physics and beginning his PhD in experimental atomic molecule and laser physics. However, he found this was not the right fit and chose to channel his skills into healthcare instead. Gaining an appreciation for tiny materials, he transferred to the System Design Engineering PhD program at the University of Waterloo, focusing on the application of nanotechnologies in biomedical engineering.

During this time, Dr. Ahmadi became fascinated with silicon nano-filters and their potential utility in kidney filtration. This prompted him to suggest a project to his supervisor aimed at miniaturizing dialysis, which quickly became the heart of Dr. Ahmadi’s career as he became passionate about solving the issues of traditional dialysis.

Dialysis is a common treatment for people with kidney disease, relieving damaged kidneys of their role in filtering blood. Although a life-saving treatment for many, dialysis comes with its own set of issues. Both peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis require large amounts of equipment and time as machines are often large and multiple lengthy treatment sessions are needed every week. This can make it difficult for kidney patients to live their lives freely, drastically affecting their quality of life.

To reduce equipment requirements and make dialysis more accessible, Dr. Ahmadi started working with filtration membranes with very small filter channels, around 5 nanometers. A nanometer is one billionth of the meter, meaning he was working at a microscopic level. This size was very important as it allowed for filtering out tiny molecules and wastes from blood while leaving larger, more important components. Dr. Ahmadi describes,

“Five nanometers is very similar to what the kidney does in the very first stage of what's called glomerulus filtration, meaning it would separate out a portion of blood and leave the cells and most of the proteins behind… so if you have a pore size of 5 nanometers, which is very tiny, then you can still do the same thing”

Although Dr. Ahmadi had the technical capability to work with these tiny filters, he did not have a background in biology or medicine which stifled the potential of his project. This led him to the KRESCENT program, which afforded him the opportunity he needed to build expertise in kidney biology and health.

Going through the KRESCENT program was incredibly impactful for Dr. Ahmadi, stating “the training and education was invaluable”. Not only did it provide him with knowledge and expertise he would have never been able to gain without the program, but it also provided him with connections to colleagues, mentors, clinicians, and other interdisciplinary experts in kidney health. The networking capacity of KRESCENT is what he described as “the missing piece” in his research.

Most notably, KRESCENT created an opportunity for Dr. Ahmadi to connect with patients, something he finds incredibly important in his work now. His most impactful KRESCENT experience was touring a dialysis clinic for the first time at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. Through this experience, he got to directly interact with patients and talk with them about their experiences. This provided invaluable insight for his research. Further, he realized that “everything [researchers] do on the design and development side, can positively impact the lives of millions of people”, providing meaning to his work and motivation to continue.

“The network that has been created based on the KRESCENT program and later on the Kidney Foundation has been helping us out in various aspects of our project over a number of years and continues to do so”

The insight he gained from interacting with patients and clinicians during KRESCENT established an important aspect of developing health devices for Dr. Ahmadi – continuous patient interaction. It even prompted him to post on a patient forum (www.KidneyConnect.ca) to ask patients for direct input on what they want changed with dialysis technology. Again, this provided much needed direction for his work. Since then, Dr. Ahmadi continues to place a high value on patient input, advising “if you're not interacting with clinicians or patients directly, you are missing something very important.”

Since completing KRESCENT, Dr. Ahmadi has created a biotechnology startup called Qidni Labs. The company focuses on developing advanced technologies to better address and treat kidney failure. The goal of the company is to “provide significant improvement in access to [dialysis] treatment globally, as well as reducing the cost of dialysis and transforming the quality of life of patients.” To accomplish this, the company is developing a portable and nearly waterless hemodialysis system. The device they are developing is currently being clinically tested and is not yet approved for use in Canada.

The small size and portability of this device have the potential to increase access to treatment and improve the quality of life for patients by removing the intensive equipment barrier keeping dialysis machines and people bound to their homes or hospitals. Dr. Ahmadi explains, “if you can remove that infrastructure, these patients would have a lot more options and you can open up that opportunity for them to have a higher quality of life.” Moreover, the nature of its design can also help bring dialysis treatment to “patients that have difficulty accessing dialysis” in rural areas and developing nations, which can be “instrumental to change their situation”, Dr. Ahmadi expands.

Dr. Ahmadi continues to maintain an active relationship with both the KRESCENT program and The Kidney Foundation of Canada. He maintains consistent communication with KRESCENT fellows and excitedly engages with new trainees. Furthermore, he is grateful for the support he has received from The Kidney Foundation, both in highlighting his work and helping to reach patients, stating “The Kidney Foundation of Canada has been instrumental in helping with recruitment of patients for clinical studies at Qidni Labs”.

Dr. Ahmadi’s journey demonstrates the value of investing in researchers and ideas outside of the status quo of kidney health research. Merging his expertise in physics and engineering with the support and knowledge provided by KRESCENT and The Kidney Foundation of Canada, Dr. Ahmadi has become a leader in innovative dialysis technology. He now continues to strive towards a healthier future for all dialysis patients.