People who have been living with type 1 diabetes for a long time are at risk of developing nephropathy (kidney disease) as a diabetes complication. This can require regular dialysis or kidney transplantation, which leads to a significant burden on the health system.

Chun Ling Huang of Sydney University is working on new therapies to delay or stop nephropathy, with the support of a JDRF Travel Grant.

The main focus of my research project is to investigate what role a particular potassium channel plays in the development of nephropathy. If we can determine what role it plays, we could then target this potassium channel to develop therapies that prevent or delay diabetes-related kidney disease.

Thanks to the support of JDRF, I was able to attend the 2013 World Congress of Nephrology, a prestigious conference which attracted thousands of attendees from the international nephrology community. Attendees included physicians, academics, clinical and basic researchers, as well as other healthcare professionals involved in multidisciplinary nephrology care.

Diabetic nephropathy was one of the most popular topics at this conference. This conference not only showcased the latest medical approaches but also explored technologies for diabetic nephropathy, which helped to broaden my knowledge and inform my work in this field.

I also got the chance to present my work at this conference, with the chance to communicate with other researchers and get valuable feedback from others working in the field.

JDRF has helped me to connect and collaborate with other researchers and advance my research into type 1 diabetes complications therapies.