The UK Kidney Association is proud to announce that Dr Daniyal Jafree is the 2026 recipient of the Raine Award in recognition of his pioneering research into the lymphatic vasculature of the kidney. Through work spanning kidney development, transplantation and immune-mediated disease, his research has transformed understanding of a previously underexplored area of kidney biology.

Dr Jafree began this work during an intercalated PhD undertaken alongside his medical degree and has continued to develop it as a clinician-scientist. His research focuses on how lymphatic vessels influence inflammation, immune responses and disease progression in the kidney.

“Lymphatic vessels act like the kidney’s plumbing system, clearing waste, regulating inflammation and shaping immune responses,” he explains. “When I began my research, there were exciting breakthroughs in other organs showing that manipulating lymphatics could be therapeutically promising. Under the guidance of Professor David Long, my goal became to bring those discoveries into the kidney.”

Using advanced 3D imaging, Dr Jafree mapped how lymphatic vessels emerge during kidney development and how they are remodelled in diseases such as polycystic kidney disease. He then applied single-cell RNA sequencing to generate the first molecular atlas of human kidney lymphatics in both health and chronic transplant rejection. This work revealed that lymphatic vessels are directly targeted by antibodies formed against transplanted kidneys and become structurally disorganised during rejection.

Dr Jafree has published more than 35 peer-reviewed papers in leading journals, including Journal of Clinical Investigation, Nature Methods and the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. His work has been recognised through multiple honours, including the American Society of Transplantation Young Investigator Award, the Royal Society of Medicine Stewart Cameron Award and the Royal Photographic Society Combined Royal Colleges Medal.

Alongside his research, Dr Jafree has made an important contribution to paediatric kidney medicine, an area that remains underrepresented in research and guideline development. Despite being early in his clinical career, he has contributed to defining the scientific priorities for the UK’s first guideline on immunosuppressive treatment for paediatric immune-mediated glomerular diseases.

Dr Jafree will deliver the Raine Award Lecture at UK Kidney Week 2026 in Harrogate. His lecture, A decade of trying to understand the kidney’s plumbing system, will reflect on the development of his research programme and set out how emerging approaches, including artificial intelligence, could support future therapeutic strategies targeting lymphatic pathways in both adult and paediatric kidney disease.

This recognition reflects the scale and significance of Dr Jafree’s contribution to kidney science at an early stage of his career.

Check out the programme for UK Kidney Week 2026 now and register to attend.