In March, as the world began to feel the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the ISN launched its COVID-19 resource page with the support of a team of ISN COVID-19 Collaborators. This dedicated area of the ISN website hosts information on the impact of COVID-19 on the kidneys. It provides recommendations for preventing and...
In 2020, the ISN welcomed seven new Collective-Member Societies and three new Affiliated Societies New Collective-Member Societies ISN Collective-Member Societies are tailor-made partnerships that benefit individual members as well as the Collective Society. By partnering with the ISN in this way, the Collective-Member Society increases its membership and presence within the ISN and globally. New partnerships...
The ISN had an exciting start to research projects in 2020 with the Research Collaborative Meeting and 1ST International Consensus Meeting on Defining Kidney Failure in Clinical Trials that took place from January 31 - February 1 in Vancouver, Canada. The ISN convened this international, multi-stakeholder meeting to develop consensus on definitions of kidney failure...
In February, the ISN was present at the 146th Session of the Executive Board (EB) of the World Health Organization (WHO). The ISN called for recognition of the worldwide burden of kidney disease, asking for urgent measures to ensure that kidney health is fully integrated into national NCD plans. (Statement on Item 146.6; Statement...
The WHO declared 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.” In May 2020, the ISN Kidney Health Professionals Working Group (KHPWG) emphasized the key role nephrology nurses play in delivering high-quality holistic care to patients with kidney diseases and presented global issues in nephrology nursing care, outlining strategies to address these...
The ISN values its young members and welcomed the many powerful and inspiring first-hand accounts it received from different world regions that demonstrated what it meant to be a young nephrologist in 2020: From January, the ISN Young Nephrologists Committee worked alongside the ISN Research Working Group to present “Breakthrough Discoveries,” 60 + 1 globally...
ISN is saddened to announce the death of Professor Donal O’Donoghue, who passed away on 3 January 2021 having become unwell with COVID-19 in mid-December. Professor O’Donoghue qualified in physiology and medicine from Manchester and trained in Internal Medicine and Nephrology in the East Midlands, Paris and in Edinburgh. Professor O’Donoghue was the Chair of the...
The deadline to apply for a grant is midnight CET, today, December 21, 2020. Are you eligible for a grant to attend Virtual WCN’21? Find out here and apply today. ISN Virtual WCN’21 grants offer pre-congress and congress registration and access to: Post-session recordings; the ISN Global Kidney Policy Forum; the ISN Community Film Event. Last call for grant...
As the year draws to a close, the ISN reflects on what defined 2020: community. As the needs and realities of ISN members continue to evolve from one year to the next, the ISN remains committed to being a global community relevant to and adapted for the times. Your contribution by being a member enables the...
Nephkids, launched in 2016, is an annual meeting organized by past ISN Fellow, Dr. Sudha Ekambaram, from Mehta Multispeciality Hospital in Chennai, India, as part of activities developed through the Sister Renal Centers (SRC) Program between Mehta Multispeciality Hospital and the Home, Independent Dialysis and Transition Services at Metro North Hospital and Health Services...
The Emerging Leaders Program (ELP), a new ISN initiative launched earlier this year, announced its first cohort in November. The ELP is an initiative bringing together outstanding individuals to work on different aspects of leadership to impact the global kidney health agenda through collaborative projects aligned with ISN’s mission and vision. The ISN received 71 applications,...
Kidney Warriors Foundation, India's largest kidney patient support group, held the virtual conference, “Patient Advocacy in kidney transplantation, renal diet and dialysis, for bringing uniform treatments and renal practices across major cities in India,” on December 20, 2020. Patient-centeredness is a central tenet of health care delivery: only patients can fully understand the challenges of...
The ISN and the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) Program at Arbor Research Collaborative for Health in Michigan, United States, are conducting a survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care of patients undergoing chronic dialysis for the treatment of kidney failure. People with kidney diseases are particularly vulnerable to...
ISN Regional Training Centers are institutions of excellence in low and middle-income countries within an ISN region that provide nephrology training to local doctors and health professionals from low and middle-income countries through ISN grants. These centers serve as a hub for ISN kidney care initiatives within an ISN region and facilitate locally-relevant research and...
The ISN Executive Committee and Council have approved four “ISN-Named Fellows.” These ISN members – early-career nephrologists – have contributed significantly to various outputs of ISN’s research activities. Find out more about these ISN-Named Fellows here. ISN GKHA Fellow – Isabelle Ethier Dr. Isabelle Ethier from Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (Canada) has been awarded the title...
The American Journal of Nephrology (AJN) has published the ISN-KDIGO manuscript, “Availability and Affordability of Kidney Health Laboratory Tests Around the Globe.” Read the full, open-access article here. Laboratory testing of kidney health measures is essential to diagnose and monitor kidney diseases. The availability and affordability of kidney health laboratory tests across countries remain largely undefined. The...
Professor Valery Pilotovich Professor Valery Pilotovich, Nephrology and Urology Department of Belarusian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, was presented with the 2019 ISN Pioneer Award for the NIS and Russia region at the 6th Congress of the Association of Nephrologists of New Independent States (ANNIS) held in Minsk, Belarus, on December 7, 2020. The ISN Pioneer...
Every month the ISN-ACT Team lists interesting new randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from around the world. Highlight: Corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide may be superior to tacrolimus and rituximab in the treatment of primary membranous nephropathy at the cost of increased adverse events See the latest trials here. A summary of the highlighted trial is now available in French, Mandarin,...
Regional training centers are institutions of excellence in low and middle-income countries within an ISN region which: Provide nephrology training to local doctors and health professionals from low and middle-income countries through ISN grants. Serve as a hub for ISN kidney care initiatives within an ISN region. Facilitate locally-relevant research and advocacy strategies. Have program director and senior...
The Global Coalition for Circulatory Health (GCCH), of which ISN is a member, has been calling on governments to do more to address the growing concern of cardiovascular diseases (including diabetes) since its creation in 2017. The urgent need to address cardiovascular diseases has become even more pressing this year as a result of...
