War and peace: The kidney SARS-CoV2 story and the renal response to COVID-19

Donal is the Registrar at the Royal College of Physicians responsible for professional leadership, membership matters, global engagement and supporting the President in system wide engagement to improve patient care and outcomes.

Donal trained in Renal Medicine and Internal Medicine in Manchester, Paris and Edinburgh. He is a Renal Physician at Salford Royal Hospital and Professor of Renal Medicine at the University of Manchester with research interests in healthcare systems, quality improvement and innovation in education and service delivery.

Previous roles have included inaugural President of the multi-professional British Renal Society, National Director for Kidney Care in England and President of the Renal Association.

Donal is chair of Kidney Care UK, a charity supporting patients and carers. He was awarded OBE in 2018 for services to kidney patients.

Professor Sharpe graduated in Medicine from University College London in 1991 and after specializing in Renal Medicine commenced research in renal fibrosis at King’s College London in 1998 with a Kidney Research UK Clinical Training Fellowship.

After completing her PhD, she was awarded a Department of Health/MRC 5-year Clinician Scientist Intermediate Fellowship to continue her research and completed her specialist clinical training in 2004, taking up a honorary consultant post at King’s College Hospital.

In 2009 she was awarded an NHS/HEFCE Clinical Senior Lectureship and was promoted to Professor in 2019. Claire's main research interest is in the study of cell signaling pathways in renal fibrosis with a focus on discovering new therapeutic targets. Her clinical specialty is the management patients with renal complications of sickle cell disease. She is also Deputy Dean for Stage 2 of the MBBS undergraduate programme at KCL, co-chair of the UK Renal Fibrosis Network and Treasurer and Trustee of the Renal Association.

Dr Michelle Willicombe is a Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, with clinical expertise in transplantation. Her research interest is in the prevention and treatment of antibody-mediated transplant rejection.

Vinen is Chair of the Clinical Services Committee of the Renal  Association. She chaired the group that created the risk stratification for immunosuppressed renal patients during COVID-19 and the guideline for their care at this time.