Albert Ong
UK
Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize for Advancement in the Understanding of Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)
The Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize recognizes individuals for excellence and leadership in Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) clinical or basic research whose seminal scientific work has advanced knowledge and treatment of PKD. This year, the prize is split between Albert Ong and Alessandra Boletta.
Dr. Albert Ong is Professor of Renal Medicine at the University of Sheffield and Consultant Nephrologist at the Sheffield Kidney Institute, UK. Born in Malaysia, he was educated at the University of Oxford where he received undergraduate degrees in physiological sciences, clinical medicine, and a doctorate in renal cell biology. Following a research Lecturership at University College London (UCL), he was awarded a Kidney Research UK Senior Research Fellowship in genetics at Oxford (Harris lab, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine), where he began working on the genetics and cell biology of ADPKD. After joining the University of Sheffield, he established a new research program in ADPKD, funded initially by a Wellcome Trust Research Leave Award.
The major aim of his laboratory over the past 20 years has been to investigate the molecular basis of cyst formation, in particular the functions of the ADPKD proteins, polycystin-1 and polycystin-2, in cyst initiation. The focus of clinical research has been to identify key factors influencing variability in renal and extra-renal disease expression, test new treatments and innovations to improve patient care. His international leadership roles have included OVERTURE, STAGED-PKD, SONG-PKD, KDIGO-PKD, EAF, and CYSTIC. He currently serves as a member of the ERA Council and the ISN Fellowship Committee.
Dr. Albert Ong comments, “I am honoured and humbled to receive this award on behalf of my research and clinical teams at Sheffield. I wish to thank the Kaplan family for their generosity in funding this award and to the ISN and PKD Foundation for considering me worthy of it. It has been an amazing privilege to have been a member of the world-wide PKD community over the past 25 years.”
Dr. Ong will be presenting the talk ‘From Patients to Polycystins: An Unexpected Journey’ during the Lillian Jean Kaplan Prize presentation taking place on Sunday, February 27, 2022, at 00:30 MYT (Saturday, February 26, 2022, at 17:30 CET).