The South West Thames Institute for Renal Research (SWTIRR) is unique. One of only three independent renal research institutes in the country, it is the only one with an executive of patients and their families.
SWTIRR was born out of a partnership between renal patients and their clinicians. The patients formed a charity formerly known as The SW Thames Kidney Fund, now simply known as The Kidney Fund and worked with the SW Thames Renal Unit at St Helier Hospital to build The Institute.
The Kidney Fund was formed in 1989 following a meeting called by Dr Mike Bending to address the essential need for Kidney research. A group of renal patients, their friends and relatives came together at a house in Sutton and their vision was to raise sufficient funds to build a Renal Research Institute on the St Helier Hospital site. It then took 8 years to raise the £745,000 needed through charitable appeals, grant applications and many and varied fundraising efforts, and then in March 1998 a purpose built two story laboratory block was opened at the back of St Helier, under the name of The South West Thames Institute for Renal Research.
The Kidney Fund then changed its emphasis to fundraising to fund the activities of the Institute and research projects. Now, 20 years on, the Institute is still going strong and has a growing international reputation for its pioneering work in improving the detection of renal disease, ground-breaking laboratory research, and new and innovative practices in patient care.
The Kidney Fund's mission is simple: to raise funds for research that will lead, step by step, to the successful treatment and eventual elimination of Kidney disease.
We bring together doctors, nurses and scientists under one roof in a purpose built facility adjacent to one of the largest and most dynamic renal units in the South East of England.
For further information on SWTIRR, please follow this link
