RESEARCH
ReFIT Study
Understanding the biomedical pathways to frailty
Understanding the underlying mechanisms of frailty is essential for developing effective interventions to prevent and treat this condition. However, research on ageing is challenging due to the long timespans required to observe changes in frailty.
Frailty is often associated with advanced age, but it can also occur in younger people with chronic diseases. For example, kidney disease is a major risk factor for frailty. However, kidney transplantation can significantly improve health status in these patients, which suggests that frailty can be reversed in some cases.
Organ transplantation can therefore be used as a model to study the underlying biomedical mechanisms of frailty and to develop interventions to prevent and treat this condition.
About the trial
The ReFit study will investigate the changes in frailty status and associations with endocrine status, the metabolome, the microbiome, and markers of microcirculation and tissue integrity.
This longitudinal study (baseline and 12-month follow-up assessment) will measure frailty and biological data in three groups:
- people before and after a kidney transplant
- people with kidney disease who don’t receive a transplant
- older people who are frail.
The results of this study could have important implications for the care of frail patients. By better understanding the factors that contribute to frailty, we can develop more effective treatments and interventions to improve the health and well-being of frail patients.
Study team and funding
This study is funded through a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 2022 Ideas Grant scheme (APP2021074), with a grant duration of four years.
Professor Ruth Hubbard, Masonic Chair of Geriatric Medicine at the Centre for Health Services Research at the University of Queensland, is the Principal Investigator for this study.
The team includes academic geriatricians, biomedical scientists, transplant physicians and surgeons, consumers, and mathematicians.
List of investigators
Study Steering Committee (SSC) Member
Institution
Prof Ruth Hubbard
The University of Queensland
Prof Mark Midwinter
The University of Queensland
Dr Emily Gordon
The University of Queensland
Dr Vinod Kumar
The University of Queensland
Assoc Prof Ross Francis
The University of Queensland
Dr Fleur Garton
The University of Queensland
Dr Natasha Reid
The University of Queensland
Dr Seungha Kang
The University of Queensland
Dr Alan Huang
The University of Queensland
Dr Handoo Rhee
Metro South Hospital and Health Service
Prof Mark Morrison
The University of Queensland
Prof Trent Woodruff
The University of Queensland
Dr James Walsh
Prince Charles Hospital
Dr Chloe Yap
The University of Queensland
Assoc Prof Mara McAdams DeMarco
New York University Langone
Dr Nicki Scholes-Robertson
Consumer representative
Mr Peter Tranter
Consumer representative
Please direct any queries to Dr Alyra Shaw, Project Manager, at [email protected]
