Professor Harris leads clinical research on the prevention and management of CKD including studies on peritoneal and haemodialysis for the management of patients with end-stage kidney disease. Additionally, he directs a laboratory research program focused on understanding the pathophysiology of CKD progression and more recently, the use of cellular and other novel approaches to slow CKD progression. He has been involved in numerous investigator- and industry-initiated clinical trials, the results of which have contributed significantly to clinical practice and informed Australian and international guidelines. Chief among these was the IDEAL trial (New England Journal of Medicine 2010) which showed planned early initiation of dialysis in patients with stage V CKD was not associated with an improvement in survival or clinical outcomes, challenging prevailing clinical practice and leading to changes to guidelines on dialysis.In recent years he has collaborated in the Blue Mountains Eye Study studying eye and other diseases in CKD. Currently he is a chief investigator in a randomised controlled trial aimed at slowing the progression of renal failure due to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) and CKD-FIX, a trial of allopurinol in the slowing of kidney disease progression.
His laboratory research on the pathophysiology of CKD progression has led to major findings including highlighting the importance of renal cell hypermetabolism, proteinuria, pro-inflammatory changes in renal cells, oxidative stress-related injury, NFkB, epithelial mesenchymal transition, matrix metalloproteinases and interstitial inflammation, in disease progression. His paper on treating renal disease with macrophages was editorialised in Kidney International, and his article on regulatory cells was reviewed in Nature Clinical Practice Rheumatology. Current projects are investigating the mechanisms underlying kidney fibrosis development to help identify potential therapeutic targets. Other studies aim to define the role of regulatory cells such as renal mononuclear phagocytes in CKD progression.
Professor Harris? team also is investigating novel therapies such as DNA vaccination and regulatory lymphocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells, to slow disease progression.