The MAHSC (Manchester Academic Health Science Centre) inaugural lecture series celebrates the remarkable contributions of our honorary MAHSC clinical chairs. These prestigious honors, awarded by the University of Manchester’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health, recognise distinguished individuals across Greater Manchester who have demonstrated excellence in research, education, and clinical practice.

Through this lecture series, MAHSC provides a platform to showcase not only the achievements of these clinical leaders, but also the real-world impact of their work on patient care, innovation, and population health. Each lecture offers a unique insight into the personal and professional journeys behind the research, highlighting how clinical practice, collaboration, and curiosity come together to drive meaningful change across our health and care system.

In this lecture, Professor Dimitris Poulikakos, Consultant Nephrologist, Clinical Director for Renal Services in Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust and MAHSC Honorary Clinical Chair, reflects on a career dedicated to improving outcomes for patients with kidney disease. Through research, innovation and international collaboration, he shares how a desire to address some of nephrology’s most persistent challenges has shaped his work and continues to drive efforts to improve patient care.

From dialysis to discovery: Professor Dimitris Poulikakos’ journey to improve patient outcomes

During his MAHSC inaugural lecture, Professor Dimitris Poulikakos provided a fascinating insight into a career shaped by curiosity, collaboration and a determination to improve outcomes for patients living with kidney disease.

Centred on the challenges of chronic kidney disease and dialysis, his lecture explored how clinical questions can drive impactful research, taking audiences through his academic journey and highlighting the innovative work helping to address one of nephrology’s most significant unmet needs

Professor Poulikakos began by reflecting on the people who influenced his decision to pursue nephrology, recognising the mentors and colleagues who helped shape his career. He spoke about how academic medicine is rarely a straight path, but instead a journey defined by opportunities, challenges and the support of others along the way.

His academic career began at St George’s Hospital in London, where he undertook doctoral research investigating the use of computerised electrocardiography to identify patients at risk of sudden cardiac death. Rather than starting with a laboratory-based research question, his work was rooted in a pressing clinical challenge: the high rate of mortality experienced by patients receiving dialysis.

This focus on real-world clinical problems would become a defining theme throughout his career.

Tackling one of nephrology’s biggest challenges

A central message of the lecture was the ongoing challenge of improving outcomes for patients undergoing dialysis.

Despite significant advances across healthcare, Professor Poulikakos highlighted that outcomes for many dialysis patients remain poor, with cardiovascular disease and sudden cardiac death continuing to represent leading causes of mortality. He explained that while major progress has been made in reducing deaths from conditions such as heart attacks and stroke in the general population, similar improvements have not been seen among patients receiving dialysis.

Compounding the challenge is the fact that clinicians often struggle to identify which patients are at greatest risk. This means opportunities for prevention can be missed, making the development of better predictive tools a major research priority.

For Professor Poulikakos, this unanswered question became the driving force behind much of his research.

Bringing together medicine, technology and data

To address this challenge, Professor Poulikakos drew on expertise from across disciplines, working with leaders in cardiac electrophysiology and computational analysis to explore new approaches to risk prediction.

His research has focused on understanding whether detailed analysis of electrocardiograms (ECGs) can help identify patients at increased risk of sudden cardiac death before events occur. By combining clinical knowledge with advanced computational methods, this work aims to provide healthcare professionals with better tools to support decision-making and improve outcomes.

The lecture highlighted the increasing role of technology and data science within healthcare research, demonstrating how innovative analytical approaches can help unlock new insights into complex conditions.

Improving kidney care beyond the UK

Alongside his work in cardiovascular risk and dialysis, Professor Poulikakos also discussed research undertaken in low-resource settings, reflecting his commitment to improving kidney health on a global scale.

One programme focused on acute kidney injury in children presenting with malaria, helping to demonstrate that kidney complications are more common than previously recognised within this patient group. The findings highlighted the need for further research and consideration of kidney injury within future policy and clinical guidance.

This work illustrates the far-reaching impact that health research can have, helping to improve understanding of disease and support better care for patients across different healthcare systems and settings.

Learning from the pandemic

Professor Poulikakos also reflected on the role of communication and patient engagement, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He shared how research within renal services examined approaches to addressing vaccine hesitancy among patients, identifying the importance of trusted relationships between healthcare professionals and the communities they serve. Rather than relying solely on generic messaging, teams worked with trusted staff members who had developed strong relationships with patients, helping to provide personalised support and information.

This experience reinforced the importance of understanding patient perspectives and highlighted how effective communication can play a vital role in improving health outcomes.

Continuing the search for answers

While important progress has been made, Professor Poulikakos emphasised that significant challenges remain.

His current research continues to focus on understanding the causes and characteristics of sudden cardiac death in dialysis patients. This includes investigating biological pathways that may contribute to disease development and exploring the role of biomarkers that could help identify people at greatest risk. Alongside this, large-scale computational ECG analysis aims to further refine approaches to prediction and prevention.

Together, these studies are helping to build a more detailed understanding of cardiovascular complications in kidney disease and could pave the way for future interventions.

Looking ahead

Professor Dimitris Poulikakos’ inaugural lecture showcased how clinically driven research can be used to tackle some of healthcare’s most difficult problems.

His work demonstrates the value of bringing together clinical expertise, research, technology and collaboration to address questions that matter most to patients. By focusing on improving outcomes for people living with kidney disease, he continues to contribute to advances that have the potential to benefit patients both locally and globally.

Ultimately, his lecture served as a reminder that some of the most impactful research begins with a simple question: how can we do better for patients? Through his ongoing work in nephrology, Professor Poulikakos is helping to find the answers.