Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) represents a global and increasing health burden with high economic cost. CKD patients exhibit a progressive disease, nonetheless a failure of current therapies has been demonstrated and an alarming number of clinical trials have failed. Better methods are urgently needed for earlier diagnosis and improved patient stratification, targeted treatment, and monitoring. Renal multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has emerged as a promising non-invasive technique for characterisation of renal physiology and pathophysiology. However, current methodological differences across studies hinder reliable comparisons, and additional evidence for clinical validity and utility of renal MRI is required. RESPECT addresses these unmet needs with a multinational, multidisciplinary and intersectoral project that will set up and technically validate a scalable standardised renal MRI infrastructure, allowing multicentre clinical research. The project will also set up an open-access platform for renal MRI data sharing and processing, taking advantage of latest artificial intelligence developments, and will develop MRI data sharing guidelines taking patient, healthcare and ethic professionals’ perspective into account. The project will finally provide preliminary cross-institutional evidence of renal MRI feasibility and utility in characterising and staging CKD. This is fundamental for renal MRI ultimate transfer to clinical practice for personalised medicine.
