Dr. Frederick Tam

Biography

Professor Tam received his medical degree from the University of Cambridge. He has undergone research training supported by the Medical Research Council Training Fellowship and the National Kidney Research Fund (now Kidney Research UK) Senior Fellowship. His research focuses on the importance of cytokines in the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis, diabetic nephropathy, and renal allograft rejection. His research group has developed experimental therapies for glomerulonephritis utilizing soluble cytokine receptors, monoclonal antibody antagonists, recombinant regulatory cytokines, and signal transduction inhibitors. Professor Tam has applied his expertise in cytokine analysis and proteomics to develop non-invasive biomarkers for glomerulonephritis and the complications of diabetic nephropathy in peritoneal dialysis patients, in collaboration with Professor Edwina Brown. Together with the Transplantation Translational Research Group, he is investigating novel mechanisms of renal transplant rejection and developing anti-rejection therapies. His research group excels in applying preclinical and early clinical development of anti-inflammatory therapies in collaboration with industry. He is the Chief Investigator of an international randomized controlled clinical trial for Spleen Tyrosine Kinase (Syk) inhibitor treatment for IgA nephropathy and a phase 2 clinical trial of fostamatinib for chronic active antibody-mediated rejection in renal transplantation. Furthermore, he is the Founding Lead of the UK Rare Disease Group for Retroperitoneal Fibrosis and, together with Dr. Andrew Frankel, has established the Diabetic Nephropathy Translational Research Consortium to investigate novel disease mechanisms and develop new therapies. He is collaborating with Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP) and the Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) to improve early diagnosis and personalized treatment for kidney diseases.

Research Interests