Regional Activities

China and US centers support each other to provide nephrology training

Earlier this January, several ISN Continuing Medical Education courses took place across China in Shanghai, Jiaxing and Hangzhou. These meetings were made possible thanks to a valuable partnership between the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Ruijin Hospital Jiao Tong University, Chang Zheng Hospital, the Second Military Medical University and the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University. Lectures...

Vascular access symposium and workshop in Kuwait

The Kuwait Nephrology Association organized a two-day symposium and workshop on vascular access in Kuwait. The workshop was planned as an initiative by ISN’s Middle East Regional Board and the Interventional Nephrology Committee to improve dialysis access care in the Middle East. The key objective of the meeting was to start a formal dialogue between...

CKDu in Sri Lanka’s population

On December 16, 2015, Georgi Abraham and I had the honor of being invited to discussions with Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena, the country’s Minister of Health as well as the leadership of the Sri Lankan Society of Nephrology. We set out to address issues related to the epidemic of Chronic Kidney Disease of undetermined...

Join the RDRTF survey on patient data and the refugee crisis

The ISN Renal Disaster Relief Task Force (RDRTF) is looking to gather information relating to the current refugee crisis and kidney patients. Take part in this short survey to gather data on patient care. Recently, we have been struck by the news and pictures of the refugee crisis and the humanitarian disaster that accompanies it....

EAP training boosts interventional nephrology services at Pro-Renal Brazil

Collaboration with the ISN Educational Ambassador Program has helped the Pro-Renal Foundation in Brazil develop its interventional nephrology services. Former Chairman of the ISN Interventional Nephrology Committee, who leads the initiative, Dr. Miguel Riella believes the program would not have grown to this extent without ISN’s valuable training support. ISN Educational Ambassador Dr. Donald Schon from...

ISN Voices: Nepal

Klara Paudel’s dedication to nephrology is changing kidney patient care and research across Nepal. “In the developed world, you can rely on someone senior for guidance. Almost all specialists in emerging countries have to work on their own, relying on their own judgment and what they read in literature.  It was similar for me. Born in...

ISN-ANIO India Committee Program deadlines

The deadline to apply for the ISN-ANIO Apprenticeship and Research (Diabetic Kidney disease) Programs is fast approaching. You can send your application for either program by December 15, 2015. The ISN-ANIO India Committee is dedicated to reducing kidney disease and increasing treatment opportunities for patients in India. Committed to understanding the concrete needs of Indian...

Belarus German partners: treating AKI in intensive care

ISN Belarus German Sister Renal Center partnership raises awareness about treating Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) across intensive care units (ICUs) in Minsk. This September, a multidisciplinary meeting took place in Belarus, focused on treating AKI across intensive care units. The course attracted doctors and fellows from intensive care and nephrology units in the Minsk area. After...

Join the ISN Regional Workshop in Russia on September 16, 2015

An ISN Regional Workshop will take place in St-Petersburg on September 16, 2015 at 4.30pm. It will be held in conjunction with Renal Week and the Russian Dialysis Society Congress. An opportunity not to be missed as ISN Regional Workshops are now the go-to meeting to meet participants and leaders involved in the ISN Programs. ISN...

Finding purpose outside the day job

Becoming a volunteer reveals how a little help can go a long way when it comes to medical communities in need. Portuguese nephrologist Catarina Carvalho discovered how her medical expertise and training would be tested when she volunteered to support doctors and nurses at the National Hospital in Dili, East Timor. On the value of volunteering,...

West Lake Forum brings international and local faculties together in China

International experts from across the United States, Chile and Italy recently joined local speakers including renowned nephrologists from across China and Hong Kong at the 3rd Nephrology Update Meeting, West Lake Forum in Hangzhou, China. Translational lectures reviewed recent advances in renal physiology, pathophysiology of electrolyte alterations, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, renal replacement therapy and...

Nepal earthquake: latest update from ISN RDRTF

The ISN Renal Disaster Relief Task Force (RDRTF) has released its latest update on supporting doctors in Nepal after the earthquake hit the region. According to ISN RDRTF Chair Wim Van Biesen, the situation has stabilized and there is a sufficiently functional dialysis service. Thanks to the Nepalese Society of Nephrology patients are being dispersed...

ISN RDRTF lends support in the aftermath of Nepal earthquake

According to reports from ISN RDRTF Chairman Wim Van Biesen, there are Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) casualties in three main hospitals in Pokhara, 150 kilometers Northwest of Kathmandu. There are nephrology services at the Western Regional Hospital (27 patients), Gandaki Medical College (30 patients) and the Manipal Teaching Hospital (15 patients). In these centres,...

ISN RDRTF: first reaction to earthquake in Nepal

Following the earthquake in Nepal, Wim Van Biesen, Chairman of the ISN Renal Disaster Relief Task Force (RDRTF), has sent out the first communication report. According to this report, local nephrologists are well prepared and are currently helping the chronic patients and managing the additional crush syndrome and acute kidney injury (AKI) patients. Some dialysis units have...

Post WCN 2015 panel dicussion on challenges for young investigators in low-resource settings

The 10th Conference on Kidney Disease in Disadvantaged Populations was held from March 17 to 18, 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa as a satellite symposium following the ISN World Congress of Nephrology 2015. As part of the symposium, a moderated panel discussion on research development for young investigators working in low-resource, global health...

Madras Medical Devices donates PD catheters to Saving Young Lives program in Africa

During the World Congress of Nephrology, 100 cuffed peritoneal dialysis catheters were donated to the Saving Young Lives program in Africa. Half of these were custom-made pediatric peritoneal dialysis catheters, and they  were used at the Clinical Skills training program that took place at Red Cross Hospital in Cape Town just before the congress. Nephrologists...

A fabulous World Congress of Nephrology for South Asia

The recently concluded World Congress of Nephrology in Cape Town was by all accounts a resounding success. The opening ceremony was fabulous with great interactive entertainment and fantastic inspiring addressees by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Editor of the Lancet Richard Horton. Of note, South Asia has done fabulously well in this meeting. There was a...

Kidney disease in Uganda

The developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa are under threat by an emerging epidemic of kidney disease. Populations are no longer solely affected by ‘diseases of poverty’ such as HIV/TB/malaria but also ‘diseases of affluence’ such as diabetes and hypertension. Disease is often asymptomatic until end-stage disease develops requiring expensive treatment options such as transplant or...