About KiPsy Lab

The KiPsy Lab — Kidney Psychosocial Research Laboratory was founded on the recognition that living with chronic kidney disease extends far beyond medical treatment. For patients, families and healthcare professionals, kidney disease shapes everyday life, transforms relationships, redefines future plans, and requires ongoing processes of psychological and social adaptation that often remain invisible within traditional models of care.

The laboratory emerged from a longstanding academic and clinical commitment to understanding the psychosocial dimensions of kidney disease, together with a deeply held belief that scientific knowledge should move closer to people's lived experiences and actively contribute to improving the support available throughout the disease trajectory.

This journey began with the Together We Stand project, which brought together a dedicated team committed to listening to, understanding, and giving visibility to the experiences of individuals living with chronic kidney disease and their families. Through this work, it became clear that a sustainable research structure was needed — one capable of integrating scientific rigour, close engagement with clinical practice and meaningful societal impact.

The KiPsy Lab was therefore established as an interdisciplinary research space devoted to exploring the human experience of kidney disease across the lifespan — from childhood to adulthood, family caregiving and the challenges faced by healthcare professionals.

Guided by a strong sense of mission, the laboratory seeks to translate scientific evidence into applicable knowledge, contributing to the development of psychosocial support programmes, evidence-informed interventions and more person- and family-centred models of care.

Today, the KiPsy Lab brings together researchers, clinicians and collaborators who share a common purpose:

Understanding life beyond kidney disease.

KiPsy Lab focuses on the study of the psychological, social, existential and relational dimensions of kidney disease across the life course. Our work is grounded in the understanding that living with kidney disease involves complex processes of adaptation that extend beyond strictly clinical settings.

Research conducted within the laboratory integrates diverse methodological approaches, combining quantitative and qualitative methods to examine experiences, behaviours and adaptation trajectories among patients, families and healthcare professionals.

We prioritise research developed in close connection with real-world care contexts, where kidney disease is experienced in everyday life. This proximity supports the formulation of scientifically meaningful research questions and the generation of knowledge with clinical and societal relevance.

Studies at the KiPsy Lab address multiple levels of analysis, including psychological adjustment, family experiences, transitions across stages of disease, and the evolving challenges associated with caregiving over time.

Our work is carried out in close collaboration with clinical teams and with individuals living with kidney disease, recognising that advances in knowledge emerge through the integration of research, clinical practice and lived experience.

At the KiPsy Lab, understanding the human experience of kidney disease is an integral part of scientific inquiry and of the development of evidence-informed psychosocial support.