Professor Richard Kitching honoured with Asia Pacific Award for Excellence in Kidney Research
Prof Richard Kitching, 2025 Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology Award recipient
Congratulations to Professor Richard Kitching, who has been awarded the 2025 Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology Award for Excellence in Basic Science. This prestigious biennial award recognises outstanding contributions to kidney research and will be presented to Professor Kitching for his world-leading work on autoimmune kidney disease.
A nephrologist and physician-scientist based in the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, Department of Medicine within the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Professor Kitching is internationally recognised for his research on ANCA-associated vasculitis, a severe autoimmune condition that causes inflammation of the kidneys and can lead to kidney failure.
Working at the interface of clinical care and immunology, his translational research has revealed how the immune system damages the kidneys and how new, targeted therapies could offer more effective and less toxic treatments. His work has contributed to over 50 original research papers in leading nephrology journals and landmark publications in Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Communications and PNAS. He is the lead author of the definitive review of all aspects of ANCA-associated vasculitis in Nature Reviews Disease Primers.
Alongside his academic work, Professor Kitching heads the Monash Vasculitis Clinic, at Monash Health, where he provides care for people with complex autoimmune kidney disease. He is the founding Chair of ANZVASC (the Australian and New Zealand Vasculitis Society) and established the ANZVASC Quality and Disease Registry, hosted at Monash University. In 2026, ANZVASC will host the 22nd International Vasculitis Workshop in Melbourne, an opportunity to bring together global leaders in this evolving field.
“I’m honoured to be recognised by the Asia Pacific nephrology community,” said Professor Kitching. “Although this is an individual award, it also reflects the commitment of everyone with whom I've worked over the years. I’m grateful to have been able to lead a team committed to improving the lives of people living with vasculitis and immune kidney disease.”
This award highlights Professor Kitching’s impact on the field of nephrology and the strong global reputation of Monash-led kidney research.
About Monash University
Monash University is Australia’s largest university with more than 80,000 students. In the 60 years since its foundation, it has developed a reputation for world-leading high-impact research, quality teaching, and inspiring innovation.
With four campuses in Australia and a presence in Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia and Italy, it is one of the most internationalised Australian universities.
As a leading international medical research university with the largest medical faculty in Australia and integration with leading Australian teaching hospitals, we consistently rank in the top 50 universities worldwide for clinical, pre-clinical and health sciences.
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