About

Better Evidence and Translation – Chronic Kidney Disease (BEAT-CKD) began as a collaborative research network aiming to improve the lives of people living with chronic kidney disease. Our aim is to generate high-quality research evidence to help patients, health professionals, and policy makers make informed decisions about healthcare.

BEAT-CKD was initially established with funding from an NHMRC Program Grant (APP1092957) and supports four research and translation organisations across Australia: the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry (ANZDATA), the Australasian Kidney Trials Network (AKTN), Caring for Australasians with Renal Impairment (CARI) guidelines group and Cochrane Kidney and Transplant (CKT). The objectives of BEAT-CKD are to:

identify promising interventions which address health outcomes of high priority to patients, caregivers, health professionals and policy makers
provide robust evidence about these interventions
identify and evaluate strategies to deliver these interventions in diverse clinical settings

In 2021, BEAT-CKD researchers were awarded an NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence: Partnering with Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease to Transform Care and Outcomes (CRE-PACT; APP2007026). CRE-PACT will build upon the work of BEAT-CKD by working collaboratively with patients and caregivers across all stages of research in kidney disease. We will do this by focusing on three broad areas:

Training – for patients and researchers, to equip them with the knowledge, resources and skills required to work together effectively.
Research – to address the patient-prioritised evidence gaps and apply best-practice patient-partnership in all stages of research from conception, development and design of interventions through to dissemination and implementation.
Partnership – to communicate research findings and build national and international relationships that support the implementation of our project findings.