Nicole van de Kar is a pediatric nephrologist since 2000 at the department Of Pediatric Nephrology, Amalia Children’s Hospital, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The Pediatric Nephrology department is a full facility center including dialysis and renal transplantation. Dr van de Kar’s main clinical and research objectives are complement mediated renal diseases, in particular C3 glomerulopathy and hemolytic uremic syndrome.
As pediatric nephrologist/translational researcher, she actively participates in the complement mediated disorders research group. For the last two decades her team is leading in complement diagnostics in HUS and C3 glomerulopathy in the NL (National Reference Laboratory for complement mediated diseases) including genetic analysis including micro-array analysis and next generation sequencing as well as all kinds of complement protein analysis (functional complement assays, C3 and C4 nephritic factor, monitoring complement inhibiting therapy, eculizumab levels). Together with her colleagues in nephrology, pharmacology and the complement laboratorium (all Radboudumc) every two weeks a clinical TMA/HUS/complement meeting is being held. Every three months she chairs the Dutch Working Group on aHUS in which is represented one nephrologist and one pediatric nephrologist from every Dutch university center. The diagnostics, treatment and follow up of aHUS/TMA cases are being discussed in this meeting.
For years she is advisory member of the aHUS/C3G-Dutch Nephrology Patient Organization. Currently she is Principal Investigator in ongoing multinational trials in C3 glomerulopathy. She is project leader of the CUREiHUS study, a national observational study which monitors and evaluates the Dutch guideline on the restrictive use of eculizumab in aHUS in the Netherlands.
As pediatric nephrologist she participated in the KOUNCIL consortium, a scientific research investigating the genetic background and disease mechanisms underlying nephronophtisis. In close collaboration with the colleagues in departments of human genetics and nephrology she continues to work on the clinical and research aspects of nephronophtisis.