Dr Tom Blydt-Hansen MD, PhD
Associate Professor; Director, Pediatric Multi Organ Transplant Program
Faculty of Medicine
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Dr. Tom Blydt-Hansen is a Clinical Pediatric Nephrologist at the BC Children's Hospital, and a Clinician Scientist at the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute. He is also the Director of the Pediatric Multi-Organ Transplant Program at BC Children's Hospital and Associate Professor in the UBC Department of Pediatrics.
Dr. Blydt-Hansen's research program uses proven techniques to identify signs of kidney injury and rejection in the urine of children who have had a kidney transplant. It focuses on the first year after transplant, since this is a period of the highest risk for rejection. Dr. Blydt-Hansen looks for metabolites and chemokines known as biomarkers that can identify the graft injury. These biomarkers could be then used to monitor the health of the graft and screen for any signs of an early rejection. This new way of graft monitoring harnesses a potential for a non-invasive, pain-free replacement of the current method, which is a repeated biopsy.