Program > Keynote Speaker

Rachel Lennon, The University of Manchester

Title : Basement membrane dynamics in Alport syndrome

Rachel combines discovery research as Professor of Nephrology with her clinical role as a Consultant Paediatric Nephrologist. She graduated from Nottingham University Medical School in 1994 and completed clinical training in 2008. Her research career began in 2004 with a Wellcome Trust PhD Training Fellowship to work with Peter Mathieson and Moin Saleem at the University of Bristol. This was followed by the award of an NIHR clinical lectureship, which enabled a move to the Wellcome Centre for Cell-Matrix Research in Manchester to work with Martin Humphries. She was awarded a Wellcome Intermediate Clinical Fellowship in 2010 to establish her own group and subsequently a Wellcome Senior Research Fellowship in 2016.

Rachel now leads a research team of 12, a specialised clinic for patients with Alport syndrome and she interfaces with both patient organisations and industry colleagues to improve diagnosis and treatment options. Rachel contributes to academic training and to date have supervised 9 PhD and 9 masters students to completion and supervise 8 current PhD students. In addition, she was the lead for Integrated Clinical Academic Training for the University of Manchester (2016-2022) overseeing the training of ~80 clinician scientists and she is co-Director of the Wellcome 4-year PhD programme (ImmunoMatrix in Complex Disease).

In leadership positions Rachel is currently the Director of the Wellcome Centre for Cell-Matrix Research and Director of the Stoneygate and Kidney Research UK Alport Research Hub. Nationally, she is a research awards panel member for Kidney Research UK and internationally she is a board member for the American Society for Matrix Biology (ASMB). Rachel was the chair of the local organising committee for the 13th International Podocyte meeting in July 2021 and she is a member of the organising committee for ASN Kidney Week 2022 and 2023 and the ASMB 2023. Rachel was also recently elected to be co-Vice Chair for the Collagen Gordon Research Conference 2025.