Every two years, the ISN presents awards that acknowledge exceptional contributions to the field of nephrology and we need your help to determine the candidates.

Children of African descent are three times more vulnerable to chronic kidney disease (CKD). There also exists limited data on the GFR-based evaluation of renal function in sub-Saharan Africa compared to hospital-based data, which may not be representative of the general population.

Leading the ISN Sister Renal Center program between Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, ISN Educational Ambassador Ibi Erekosima shares his views on the value of working together to improve nephrology care.

Our community helps us offer more training opportunities for our members.  Kidney Research UK and the Renal Association provide us with valuable support so that we can offer more educational opportunities to ISN members.

In response to the uneven state of nephrology care in China, ISN Regional Training Centers are responding to the educational needs of local medical communities. Ming-hui Zhao, ISN's regional board chair for North East Asia, explains how regional collaboration is key to improving treatment for patients.

Some 130 participants joined a panel of international and local speakers in Tirana, Albania for the first ISN Continuing Medical Education Program in the country.

The ISN Educational Ambassadors Program and Saving Young Lives recently joined forces to set up a workshop to help develop a sustainable peritoneal dialysis (PD) program at the Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie, Université d’Etat in Haïti.

An ISN Continuing Medical Education (CME) meeting was held in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan on February 9 and 10, 2018. It opened doors to share nephrology knowledge between the nephrologists of Iran, Russia and Georgia with the local doctors and medical students as well as medical professionals from neighboring countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, Belarus and Lithuania.

Following the call for applications, the ISN-Hydration for Kidney Health (H4KH) Executive Committee is happy to announce the names of those who have been selected for the New Investigator and Hydration and Kidney Health grants.

Dr. Sofia Enhörning, from Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden received the 2015 Hydration and Kidney Health Grant for her project entitled "Plasma copeptin as a predictor of, and copeptin associated loci in, cardiorenal disease - population based prospective cohort studies and a mendelian randomization approach."

Teams from Mansoura International Hospital (Egypt) and the UK's Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, NHS recently played a important role in leading training activities during kidney week at Minya University in Egypt.

We have some great news to share following the recent ISN Sister Renal and ISN-TTS Transplant Centers call for applications.

After a successful application session in October 2017, we are delighted to announce the new batch of fellows that will take part in the program this year.

The ISN Sister Renal Center Program between Sudan and Brazil has been particularly active recently. Two nephrologists and a renal nurse from renal institutes across Brazil brought different perspectives to a training course for local doctors at Soba University Hospital in Sudan.

We are pleased to share the results of the Clinical Research Program Grant application session that was held in October 2017. Each grant helps implement research projects to detect and manage chronic kidney disease, hypertension and diabetes in low-to-middle income countries.

Thanks to a thriving A ISN Renal Sister Center Program between St-George's University Hospital and the Kumasi Renal Unit in Ghana, one nurse has received the funding she needs to develop targeted training in nephrology, spending eight weeks at the center in London, UK.

ISN Educational Ambassador Ibi Erekosima hosted the first international nephrology web conference at a renal center at University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Southern Nigeria, working alongside Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust.

Following the call for applications, the Hydration for Kidney Health (H4KH) Executive Committee is happy to announce that Dr. Amarasiri de Silva from University of Pittsburgh, USA, has been selected for the ISN-H4KH Fellowship Program and will receive a grant worth 25,000 USD.

Through specific training courses, ISN Educational Ambassadors can help medical teams at your center access the knowledge and skills they need to develop new services, community-based research or screening programs.

Congratulations to Dr. Assiya Kanatbayeva from the Kazakh National Medical University. She received an ISN Pioneer award at the recent ISN Regional Board meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia at the end of October.

Nicaragua is experiencing a rapid growth of patients on chronic hemodialysis, mainly owing to the high incidence of Mesoamerican nephropathy across the country. The ISN Educational Ambassador Program has helped more nephrologists, vascular access surgeons and hemodialysis nurses get specific training to better care for their patients.

We have joined forces with the American Nephrologists of Indian Origin (ANIO) to bring you the Clinical Nephropathology Certificate Program.

ISN and the French-speaking Society of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation (SFNDT) have signed a partnership to express their mutual commitment in advancing nephrology in French-speaking Africa.

Last week, the 13th Balkan Cities Association of Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation and Artificial Organs (BANTAO) congress in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina was a great example of the growing enthusiasm between members of a global nephrology community working together to improve kidney health.

Congratulations to Dr Ayla San from Turkey who received the ISN Pioneer award for eastern and central Europe in recognition of her outstanding and sustained contributions in establishing and developing nephrology.

In September, international speakers from ISN took part in the 11th National Scientific Practical Nephrology Conference on topical questions of nephrology and renal replacement therapy, organized by the Belarus Society of Nephrology.

The Australian & New Zealand Society of Nephrology (ANZSN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop its partnership with ISN and provide co-funding for the ISN Programs. Both Societies have expressed their mutual commitment to advancing nephrology in the Asia Pacific region.

Around 400 delegates, mostly from the five major regions of Northwest China as well as nephrologists from Tajikistan, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, took part in the Silk-Road Forum of Kidney Disease, from August 8 to 10, 2017 in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.

Do you recognize the importance of bridging gaps in kidney health care across India? Are you seeking specific training to respond to the needs of your patients?

The ISN Clinical Research Program Committee is pleased to announce the results of the May 2017 application round.

The Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology (APSN) and the Japanese Society of Nephrology (JSN) recently held their Continuing Medical Education course (CME) in Sendai, Japan. This annual event first began in 2014 to educate and build international communication for young nephrologists in the Asia Pacific region. It has been going strong ever since, encouraging the global nephrology community to learn from each other.

The next deadline to apply for the ISN Sister Renal Centers Program is October 1st, 2017. Get to know more about this ISN Program and pick up some tips on submitting an application by joining a special webinar on June 16, 2017.

Do you need a guiding hand in your clinical research? Get matched with the right mentor for you. The new ISN Mentorship Program matches experienced mentors with mentees for a three-year expertise-building relationship.

Thanks to support from the ISN Continuing Medical Education (CME) Program, Nepal welcomed doctors to the first meeting focused on peritoneal dialysis, taking place in March at the Charak Memorial Hospital in Pokhara.

For the third time, the ISN Continuing Medical Education (CME) Program helped to organise two days of talks in Saratov, Russia - gathering nephrologists from the Volga region and beyond.

The Scientific Writing Course starts today in Bangalore, India. We wish all students a great learning experience and hope they pick up many new writing skills and valuable tips, helping them to successfully get published.

To honor the “unsung heroes” of nephrology, ISN has created the Pioneer Awards that go to doctors who have achieved a major breakthrough to advance nephrology in a specific country or region.

Every year, participants in the ISN Programs invest time and effort into changing the landscape of nephrology. They also form crucial partnerships to advance nephrology in all regions of the world, bridging gaps in research and care.

Between the talks and debates at the recent World Congress of Nephrology, the ISN awards were handed out to those who have made exceptional contributions to nephrology.

The ISN Clinical Research Program (CRP) Committee promotes research and education programs in low-to-middle-income countries that involve local nephrologists, health workers and authorities. Applications are now open for this ISN Program, deadline is May 1st, 2017.

Eight Regional Training Centers have been assigned to help build more nephrology capacity across regions. Global nephrology partnerships are getting stronger as ISN Programs are increasingly delivering nephrology training across specific regions.

The 2016 edition of Clinical Dialysis Skills Course has kicked off in South Africa today. An initiative supported by the Saving Young Lives (SYL) initiative and organized by the Red Cross Children’s War Memorial Hospital in Cape Town under the leadership of Mignon McCulloch.

Renal centers in Russia and Belarus are working with nephrologists in Belgium and Italy to find new ways of managing and treating young patients.

The Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia is seeking applications for the home dialysis clinical scholar training program: 2018-2019. This is a 12-month fellowship offered through a collaboration with the BCPRA and UBC Division of Nephrology. Deadline is April 20, 2017.

The Division of Nephrology, University of British Columbia (UBC) is pleased to offer a position in the Advanced Training in Nephrology Clinical Fellowship Program.

With support from Fondazione della Comunità Bergamasca, Fluorseals SPA, and the ISN, the Mario Negri Institute ran the Scientific Writing Academy (SWA) welcoming students from all corners of the world to share tips and experience on submitting project proposals.

The city of Sarajevo was the location for a recent ISN Continuing Medical Education (CME) course, updating local nephrologists on the latest in nephrology care. It was also a chance for participants to take part in the ISN Regional Workshop and discover more about ISN Program activities in Eastern and Central Europe.

The deadline to apply for the ISN Sister Renal Centers, ISN Sister Transplant Centers and Educational Ambassadors Programs is extended to October 17, 2016. Send your application online now.