Insight

November 15, 2021

 FEATURES
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Register for WCN'22: One Registration Fee for Virtual, In-Person, and On-Demand Content

The safety and well-being of healthcare professionals and their patients are at the core of the ISN’s Mission. Our approach to organizing WCN’22 in a pandemic is no different. In response to the continuing and evolving COVID-19 situation, WCN’22 is being planned with both virtual and in-person elements.
The main features of the WCN’22 week-long program will be broadcast virtually for maximum global reach and impact. This includes the full Scientific Program, Pre-Congress Courses, Raising-the-Curtain Sessions, the Global Kidney Policy Forum, Networking Opportunities, Industry-hosted Symposia, and a host of other sessions.
The virtual program will be supplemented with in-person activities at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center in Malaysia. Those able to travel to Kuala Lumpur are invited to a single-track program presented by regional and international faculty, offering face-to-face opportunities to connect and learn. This additional in-person program will be live-streamed for online viewing. Recordings will be available on-demand.
One registration fee will give access to all content and features, whether in-person, live streaming, on-demand, or a combination of these. Register before November 24 to benefit from an early bird discount.
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Obituary: Indira Nath 1938-2021

The ISN was saddened to learn of the death of Professor Indira Nath on October 24, 2021.
Prof. Nath was an award-winning immunologist. She graduated with an M.B.B.S from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where she later founded and headed the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
Prof. Nath continued to work at AIIMS as a research and visiting professor after her retirement in 1998. Until recently, she worked on various committees and gracefully accepted ISN's invitation to deliver a plenary lecture during WCN'22.
The ISN mourns her loss and offers its deepest sympathies to her family, colleagues, and friends.
 ISN LATEST NEWS
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YOUNG NEPHROLOGISTS

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Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon

A Year After the Beirut Blast: Ongoing Challenges Faced by the Local Renal Community

Over the past two years, Lebanon has experienced three major crises that have profoundly affected the country’s demography and healthcare system.
Sabine Karam, deputy chair of the Young Nephrologists Committee and Ali Abu-Alfa, chair of ISN-Middle East Regional Board and president of the Lebanese Society of Nephrology and Hypertension, report on the current conditions.
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Research

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New Global Collaboration to Accelerate Treatments for Kidney Disease

The George Institute for Global Health and the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a network of patients with kidney disease willing to participate in clinical research projects, accessible through a single global CKD platform.
The aim of the Global Kidney Patient Trials Network (GKPTN) is to accelerate the development of new treatments for kidney disease which may ultimately benefit millions of people globally.
To achieve the key objectives of this collaboration, a global umbrella network of established patient trials networks/registries, “The ISN Patient Trial Network”, will also be created.
By collaborating with other established ventures worldwide, GKPTN will be the initial member of the ISN Patient Trials network.
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ISN-ACT Global Trials Focus: October 2021

Highlight:
A summary of the highlighted trial is now available in French, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish.
See the latest trials here.
Support equal access to nephrology research, become an ISN Member!
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Put Forward Your Research Article for a KI-ISN Early-Career Researcher Award Before November 30, 2021

Kidney International (KI) and the ISN will select four of the best original research papers published in KI in 2021 to receive a KI-ISN Early-Career Researcher Award.
The winners of these awards (two basic and two clinical science publications) will receive 500 USD each and be invited to present their papers at the 2022 World Congress of Nephrology.
Discover the 2019/2020 winners and their research papers here.
Find out more about the award and how to apply here.
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ISN Participates

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Watch Facing Forward Series Film on CKD Featuring ISN President and Share ISN Patient Ambassadors’ Stories

The NCD Alliance recently launched "Facing Forward," a series of films and articles produced by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions. The series is designed to raise awareness of noncommunicable diseases by hearing directly from patients around the world.
ISN President Agnes Fogo features in the film on CKD in the series. Stories of ISN patient ambassadors Abigail Ashley (Ghana), Fabrice Huré (France), Miracle Okon Ekpo (Nigeria), and Vicki Grey (Australia) feature in an article produced for AstraZeneca by BBC StoryWorks highlighting the global experience of CKD.
Read the ISN patient ambassador stories in this article.
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Attend the ISN-RDS Joint Session at the XVI National Russian Dialysis Conference and XX CME Course

The XVI National Russian Dialysis Conference and XX CME Course will take place in hybrid format from November 19-21, 2021.
Elena Zakharova, RDS president, former member of the ISN Executive Committee, and current member of the NIS and Russia Regional Board, will introduce the ISN-Russian Dialysis Society (RDS) joint session from 9-9:10 a.m. on November 21, highlighting the ISN-RDS partnership and ISN activities in the NIS and Russia region.
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Join ISN Leaders at Events in November 2021

  • Sri Lanka Society of Nephrology Academic Sessions 2021
    The meeting's theme is ‘Embracing Breakthroughs While Reinforcing Basics.’ The hybrid sessions will be held November 25-27, Sri Lankan time.
    ISN President Agnes Fogo will provide opening remarks during the inauguration ceremony on November 25, from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
    Past-president Vivek Jha will present ‘Toxic nephropathy’ on November 26, from 8:30-9:00 a.m.
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membership

Membership

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Expanding the ISN Network: New Affiliated Society

The ISN is pleased to welcome a new Affiliated Society, the Czech Society of Nephrology (Českà nefrologickà společnost - ČNS).
The ISN looks forward to a close collaboration with the CNS to achieve equitable access to sustainable kidney health worldwide.
ISN Affiliated Societies benefit from increased visibility through ISN endorsement and greater networking opportunities at ISN events.
Find out more on the advantages of ISN Affiliated Societies here.
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Events

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Calling all ISN Affiliated and Collective-Member Societies: Join the Global Nephrology Village at WCN'22!

The ISN invites its Affiliated Societies to showcase their organization from February 24-27, 2022, at the Global Nephrology Village at WCN’22.
Participation is free of charge for Affiliated Societies that are also Collective-Member Societies; book now!
Reserve your space at the WCN'22 Global Nephrology Village here before January 7, 2022.
Get in touch with info@theisn.org for more details on booking your booth at the Global Nephrology Village.
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Inform, Educate, and Activate Change: Share Your Story on an International Stage to Raise Awareness of Living with Kidney Diseases

Your short film can engage a global audience and make an impact on the lives of those in your community living with kidney conditions by highlighting the everyday challenges in their lives and the lives of those caring for them.
The deadline is December 8, 2021.
Past editions have shared how dialysis and transplant patients have funded treatment, run marathons, and regained employment against the odds, demonstrating the potential to live well with kidney diseases.
All submitted films will be pinned to an interactive film event map, highlighting your region and contribution.
Explore the film event map and watch past editions here.
Stay in the loop: Follow #ISNFilmEvent.
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Choose a “Community Choice Film Selection" to Be Shortlisted for the ISN Community Film Event

Watch six film entries to the 2021 ISN Community Film Event that narrowly missed the shortlist and vote your favorite film to give it a chance to be shortlisted for the Best Film Award 2022.
Online voting will close on December 6, 2021.
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Register for Three Days of Specialty Scientific Content at the ISN Frontiers Meeting in Bergamo, Italy

Register now and benefit from the early bird registration fee.
Join a global panel of clinical and scientific experts to examine the latest developments in diagnosis, disease classification, and genetics at the ISN Frontiers Meeting:
‘Complement-related kidney diseases: classification, genetics, and treatment.’
The meeting will be held from June 23-25, 2022. Explore the program here.
Find out more here.
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research

Grants

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Register for the Third Session in the Grand Rounds in Pediatric Nephrology Series

The session “Nephropathic Cystinosis: How to Diagnose and Treat” will be held on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, at 3 p.m.
This session will cover:
  • When to suspect and how to diagnose cystinosis
  • Possible pitfalls in molecular diagnosis of cystinosis
  • Treating cystinosis: current state of the art and future prospects
Recordings of the sessions are open access and available on the ISN Academy.
Watch previous sessions from the series here.
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SYL advisor and ALANEPE President Melvin Bonilla welcoming participants to the SYL hybrid course

First Hybrid SYL Course Launched in Latin America

On October 13, 2021, the Saving Young Lives (SYL) project launched the initial component of a hybrid course, offered for the first time, in Latin America.
In collaboration with the Latin-American Association of Paediatric Nephrology (ALANEPE), this online educational session on AKI management in low-resource settings was held shortly before ALANEPE’s annual congress.
The session included lectures by SYL Steering Committee members Brett Cullis and Mignon McCulloch, followed by an interactive case session from SYL advisors in Latin America, Guillermo Alvarez and Melvin Bonilla. The session, presented simultaneously in English and Spanish, hosted 282 participants from across Latin America.
The next component of the hybrid course will be a hands-on session planned for spring 2022 in Bogota, Colombia.
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(From left - Paul Mashanga, Privilage Makanda & Thembisile Mosalakatane)

Three ISN Fellows Pass Pediatric Nephrology Sub-Specialty Certificate Exams

The ISN congratulates Privilage Makanda from Zimbabwe, Thembisile Mosalakatane from Botswana, and Paul Mashanga from Zambia. All three ISN Fellows passed the Pediatric Nephrology Sub-Specialty Certificate exam as part of their fellowship training at Red Cross Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
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Advocacy

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Read the Joint ASN-ERA-ISN Statement on the State of the Global Nephrology Workforce

This joint investigation by the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the European Renal Association (ERA), and the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) assesses the number of kidney doctors or nephrologists available to care for a growing CKD population and whether their training is adequate.
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ISN Emphasizes Link between Kidney Health and Climate Change in COP26 Consultation

In August 2021, the ISN was invited to provide comments and recommendations on the relationship between kidney health and climate change in a consultation seeking to inform the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) Special Report on Climate Change and Health: “The Health Argument for Climate Action.” The paper was developed in the run-up to the COP 26 United Nations Climate Change Conference held earlier this month.
New data demonstrates that climate change and its consequences, notably the increased frequency and intensity of heatwaves, rising temperatures, and the spread of parasitic and tropical diseases, can increase the risk factors associated with kidney disease. For instance, many regions in North, Central, and South America, the Middle East, Africa, and India, are seeing increased deaths from kidney failure in manual laborers working for prolonged periods in hot temperatures.
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Download the 2022 World Kidney Day Theme in Your Language and Contribute Your Kidney Health Story to the Campaign

To spread the 2022 World Kidney Day (WKD) theme, "Kidney Health for All," as widely as possible and promote the call to action to bridge knowledge gaps to better kidney care, a selection of WKD web pages are now available in Arabic, Chinese (simple and traditional), French, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili.
The ISN encourages all to use these free resources to communicate the WKD 2022 message worldwide.
Do you live with kidney disease? Are you involved in advancing kidney health education and literacy? Contribute a guest blog to the WKD website and share your experience with a global audience! Get in touch at info@worldkidneyday.org to find out how your story can feature on the WKD blog.
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EDUCATION

Upcoming Webinars

Thursday, November 18, 4 p.m. CET

Nuances in Nephrology Webinar:
Post-AKI Care - Is it Time for Some Guidelines?

Speaker: Talat Alp Ikizler, USA
Moderator: Mehmet Sukru Sever, Turkey
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Wednesday , December 1, 3 p.m. CET

Grand Rounds in Pediatric Nephrology
An ISN-IPNA Sister Centers Initiative: Nephropathic Cystinosis - How to Diagnose and Treat

Speakers: Larisa Prikhodina, Russia
Svetlana Papizh, Russia
Elena Levtchenko, Belgium
Moderator: John Mahan, USA
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Thursday, December 9, 2 p.m. CET

ISN Frontiers Webinar:
New Insights into Clinical Management of C3G

Speaker: Richard J. Smith, USA
Moderators: Marina Noris, Italy
Giuseppe Remuzzi, Italy
Supported by an educational grant from   
Supported by   
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Recorded Webinars

ISN Webinar Series: MRAs and DKD Management
MRAS in the Future of DKD Management

ISN Webinar:
Spotlight on 0BY25 - Implementing Kidney Care in Low-resource Settings

ISN Webinar:
Expanding Utilization of Home Dialysis - Findings of the International Home Dialysis Roundtable

Nuances in Nephrology Webinar:
Kidney Health for Displaced Populations

ASN/ERA/ISN Kidney Ethics Webinar Series:
Autonomy in Kidney Care - Ethical and Practical Challenges

ISN-IPNA Webinar:
Pathophysiology of UTI and What that Means for Patients Across the Ages

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COVID-19

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On the ISN Academy: Watch the Third Episode in the COVID-19 Interview Series

Kelly Smith and Shreeram Akilesh join Ankit Patel to discuss the current understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 impact on the kidney, including whether or not there is a direct pathological implication between the two and how to explain a high incidence of kidney injury in COVID patients if no direct kidney infection by the virus is apparent.
Two previous editions in the series, available here, discuss:
  • Reducing clotting in patients with COVID-19
  • Acute PD in AKI patients with COVID-19

KI-Covid

Kidney International (KI) on COVID-19

KIR

Kidney International Reports (KIR) on COVID-19

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ISN Journals

eDigest

Read the Latest ISN Journals eDigest Highlighting Content from October

Access the latest companion to ISN Journals here.
This quarter's eDigest presents a selection of papers from Kidney International Reports on new data on the management and outcomes of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies on ANCA-associated renal conditions.
Articles from Kidney International include a study of ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis complicating treatment with hydralazine, the role of endothelial cells in glomerular diseases, and circulating complement factor H as a protector of kidney endothelial cell structure and function.
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Kidney International Editorial Selections

KI-Editorial

Shared Decision-Making in Hemodialysis Vascular Access

Shared decision-making (SDM) is not broadly applied in hemodialysis vascular access planning despite its ethical imperative. Awareness is growing that commonly delivered prescriptive fistula-centered recommendations for vascular access care might not always be relevant to an individual’s goals of care.
This article reviews the current state of vascular access practice and presents arguments why SDM is necessary for its planning. Barriers and potential solutions to SDM implementation are discussed as well as possible systems of physician-patient participation in the decision-making process of hemodialysis vascular access practice.
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Kidney International Reports Editorial Selection

KIR-Editorial

Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology in India: What Do We Know and Where We Need to Go

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) not associated with known risk factors has been reported from parts of India and appears to be similar to the cases of CKDu described from Central America.
This paper summarizes the current state of knowledge around CKDu in India based on a review of literature, multi-stakeholder consultation, a survey of Indian nephrologists, and data from research groups.
The data suggest differences in the condition described from Central America and Sri Lanka, namely, lack of a clear demographic or occupation group, older age of affected participants, and presence of mild hypertension and low-grade proteinuria.
The authors affirm that more data are needed to support the existence of a unique CKDu phenotype in India.