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Professor Dorothea Nitsch

Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and HC Nephrologist

United Kingdom

I graduated in Medicine at the University of Basel (Switzerland) and did a Doctoral Thesis there at the Biocenter. I worked several years in Internal Medicine and Renal Medicine in Switzerland up to obtaining specialist level. I did the MSc in Medical Statistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2003 and joined directly afterwards. I hold a clinical contract as an Honorary Consultant Nephrologist with the Royal Free London NHS Foundation trust.

Since 2023 I am sharing the role of Medical Director at LSHTM with my co-Medical Director Professor Sinead Langan.

Affiliations

Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology
Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health

Centres

Centre for Data and Statistical Science for Health
Centre for Global Chronic Conditions
Malaria Centre
Centre for Maternal Adolescent Reproductive & Child Health
Health in Humanitarian Crises Centre
Antimicrobial Resistance Centre

Teaching

Until 2017 I was the Programme Director for the MSc in epidemiology, then the Exam Board Chair for the MSc in Epidemiology until 2023. Until 2023 I also co-organised the Distance Learning Module in Global Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology (EPM307). I still help on this module as one of its tutors and teach face to face MSc students in Study Design.

Research

I am involved in research on risk factors and outcomes of chronic kidney disease.

I was the analytic lead of the National CKD Audit which investigates the identification and management of CKD in primary care in the UK. I am also involved in other analyses of routine electronic health records with regards to kidney disease, and in particular I am involved in a collaboration with Chiang Mai University in Thailand on this topic. I am the principal investigator of the MRC at Older Age study which contributes data to the Chronic Kidney disease Prognosis Consortium.

I have been collaborating with the UK Renal Registry since 2003 on various analyses related to the outcomes of patients on dialysis and currently I am the UK Kidney Association Director of Informatics Research.

I contribute to research at the Centre for Non-communicable Disease, in particular collaborating on a study that is investigating Mesoamerican nephropathy. I was involved in the ARK study which has validated the measurement of renal function using biomarkers in Sub-Saharan Africa, and another study that investigates the association of renal function markers in children with markers of growth and nutrition.
Research Area
Epidemiology
Geriatrics
Life-course epidemiology
Clinical medicine
Disease and Health Conditions
Kidney disease
Cardiovascular diseases
Diabetes
Infectious diseases
Country
United Kingdom
Thailand
Tanzania
Ethiopia
Region
East Asia & Pacific (all income levels)
Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)

Selected Publications

Health inequalities and kidney disease: assessing equity across the renal care pathway using routinely collected data
Croucher, C; Bramham, K; Clark, SG; Dreyer, G; NITSCH, D; O'Keeffe, H; Sinha, S;
2026
Journal of nephrology
Validation of the kidney failure risk equation and its impact on referral strategies for chronic kidney disease: protocol for a retrospective cohort study using national claims and laboratory data in Thailand.
Phannajit, J; Narkpaichit, C; Angkurawaranon, C; Aramrat, C; Cleary, F; Major, RW; Pichaiwong, W; Anutrakulchai, S; Praditpornsilpa, K; Turner, HC; NITSCH, D;
2026
BMJ open
Utilizing the learning health system approach for prevention and control of cardiovascular disease in primary care: An initiative from Thailand
Marszalek, M; Wiwatkunupakarn, N; Aramrat, C; Carvalho, C; Aramrat, P; Buawangpong, N; Aung, TN N; Jiraporncharoen, W; NITSCH, D; Mathur, R; Angkurawaranon, C;
2026
International Journal of Noncommunicable Diseases
Heat-related acute kidney injury risk in England: a nationwide case-crossover analysis of 947 342 AKI alerts.
Bodapati, N; HAJAT, S; Steenkamp, R; Gray, T; Plummer, Z; NITSCH, D;
2026
Clinical Kidney Journal
Lower limb amputation in incident dialysis patients in England: incidence, outcomes and inter-centre variation from a national registry study.
Bodapati, N; Masoud, S; Peracha, J; Pitcher, D; Casula, A; Steenkamp, R; Medcalf, J; NITSCH, D; Rayman, G; McKane, W; Lipkin, G;
2026
Clinical Kidney Journal
KidneyGenAfrica multi-cohort Genome-wide association study and polygenic prediction of kidney function in 110,000 Africans.
Kamiza, AB; Chikowore, T; Chen, G; OJEWUNMI, O; Machipisa, T; Zhou, F; Mayanja, R; Toure, S; Soremekun, O; Kintu, C; Nakabuye, M; Koprulu, M; KALUNGI, A; Kalyesubula, R; Salako, B; Nashiru, O; Corpas, M; Robinson-Cohen, C; Franceschini, N; Pattaro, C; Köttgen, A; NITSCH, D; Langenberg, C; Tcheandjieu, C; NYIRENDA, M; ... FATUMO, S.
2026
Nature communications
Associations of linear growth trajectories from 0 to 5 years with cognitive function and school achievement at 10 years of age: the Ethiopian Infant Anthropometry and Body Composition birth cohort study.
Ali, R; FILTEAU, S; Wells, JC K; Zinab, B; Megersa, BS; Yilma, D; Girma, T; NITSCH, D; Olsen, MF; Friis, H; MARPHATIA, A; Wibaek, R; Abera, M;
2025
British journal of nutrition
Deprivation and limitations in daily life in new onset kidney disease: a population study.
Cowan, E; Bell, S; Black, C; Blakeman, T; Fraser, S; Hughes, A; Keskindag, B; Methven, S; Nath, M; NITSCH, D; Rzewuska Diaz, M; Scholes-Robertson, N; Sawhney, S;
2025
Clinical kidney journal
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