Interview with Debu Banerjee

Interview with Dr Debasish Banerjee, co-chair of the 2009 Symposium 

Recently we had a chance to sit down with Dr Debasish Banerjee, scientific chair of this years St.George’s cardiovascular meeting: Cardiovascular Complications of Chronic Kidney Disease, September 17th 2009, London, UK.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your background and what type of research your lab is interested in?

The main research interest of our group is cardiovascular complications in chronic kidney disease. We have been working on endothelial dysfunction in chronic kidney disease, its association with inflammation and certain types of T-helper cells. We are also working with the affect of vitamin D on endothelial dysfunction in chronic kidney disease.

Previously, we have been interested in hypertension, particularly pulse pressure in chronic kidney disease and heart failure in chronic kidney disease.

We work in collaboration with the cardiovascular sciences department at St. George’s Hospital Medical School. Collaborators include Professor Kaski on endothelial dysfunction, Christina Baboonian on T-helper cells and with Professor John Camm and Professor Malik on sudden cardiac death in haemodialysis patients. We also collaborate with external centres such as Universities of Minnesota, Cincinnati and Miami and Imperial College in the UK.


Q: How did you come to chair the St George’s annual cardiovascular meeting?

I was invited to co-chair of this year’s St. George’s annual cardiovascular meeting. The theme of the meeting is cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease. It is due the fact that as a group we are very interested in this field of research. It is also because, as a renal physician, I manage a large pool of kidney disease patients with cardiovascular disease in the renal department of the hospital.


Q: How will a better understanding of the cardiovascular complications of chronic kidney disease impact on patient healthcare?

We hope that a better understanding of cardiovascular complications in chronic kidney disease will have a major impact on patient care. We know that cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease is very high. For example, patients on dialysis have a cardiovascular mortality of nearly 10% a year. The reasons behind this are currently unclear. The traditional risk factors do not explain the excess mortality. As such we are looking at non-traditional risk factors, such as inflammation, bone and mineral metabolism, anaemia, endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress among others. We believe our work will lead to a better understanding of cardiovascular complications in chronic kidney disease and lead to interventions which will decrease morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular complications in CKD.


Q: When planning this meeting you recommended quite a few invited speakers; any names that are familiar to fellow cardiovascular researchers?

For this meeting, we have invited quite of few speakers from outside our institute. They include Professor of cardiology, Dr. Charles Herzog, who has been one of the major researchers in this field in the United States, together with Dr. Paulo Raggi, another Professor of Cardiology from Atlanta in the United States, who has been working for a long time on calcification of heart and blood vessels in chronic kidney disease.

We have also invited experts, who are well known within the United Kingdom, including Professor Alan Jardine, Professor David Wheeler and Dr. David Goldsmith, to talk about some of the mechanisms of cardiovascular complications in CKD. We have invited abstracts for the meeting and I am looking forward to finding out what people are intending to present.


Q: What types of things have you done differently to set this meeting apart from other cardiovascular-related meetings?

This meeting of cardiovascular complications in chronic kidney disease is unique. The features which increase the significance of this meeting are the fact that we have chosen a very relevant topic, which has recently attracted the attention of cardiologists, nephrologists, clinicians and researchers throughout the world. We have planned to deliver of information to trainees in nephrology and cardiology, both in the clinics and in the research setting to improve patient care and promote research in “CVD in CKD”. 

Q: What type of audience is this meeting targeted to? Who do expect will attend? : What are some of the benefits that you see with these conferences as opposed to other larger cardiovascular meetings?


This meeting would be beneficial for nephrologists and cardiologists in a unique fashion, quite different from large cardiovascular meetings. It will bring together clinicians and basic scientists in the same room. It will enhance the interaction between presenters and the audience. There will plenty of opportunity for interaction of the experts and the trainees. It will be enriched by a poster session which will be attended by the experts. Hopefully It would also encourage research collaborations in this field, both in this institute and elsewhere.

We have chosen hot topics and organised workshops to encourage interaction between experts and attendees of the meeting.


Q: When you're not busy working as a renal physician what types of things do you like to do and do you have time to do them?

When I am not working as a renal physician, I like teaching medical students and helping to develop different techniques in teaching. I work for the trust in developing and promoting teaching within the trust.


If you would like to meet Debasish, along with many other top cardiovascular researchers, registration for the Cardiovascular complications of Chronic Kidney Disease Symposium is still open. Better yet, if you're interested in presenting a poster, poster abstracts are being accepted until 31st July 2009. We hope to see you there!