Kidney Week program has a focus on revolutionizing patient care
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Healio/Nephrology News & Issues interviewed Susan E. Quaggin, MD, FASN, president of the American Society of Nephrology, on what attendees can expect during Kidney Week, which takes place Nov. 1-6 in Orlando.
Healio/Nephrology News & Issues: For the first time in 3 years, Kidney Week will be live with the virtual option. Are registrations favoring one or the other?
Susan E. Quaggin, MD, FASN: This year’s Kidney Week is currently tracking at 85% of participants registering for the in-person option.
ASN plans to continue offering a virtual alternative for kidney professionals who cannot or prefer not to travel. We want to make sure that everyone receives access to all the educational content and scientific advances presented at the meeting.
Healio/Nephrology News & Issues: Is there a particular focus for Kidney Week this year?
Quaggin: It is #KidneyRevolution. The transformation of nephrology that has happened in the past several years is astonishing and thrilling. With so many new therapies and discoveries, the opportunity to change the trajectory of kidney diseases around the globe is now possible.
Many of the plenary and scientific sessions will demonstrate how the kidney community has tackled issues that have seemed “impossible” to solve and found solutions.
Healio/Nephrology News & Issues: The opening session is a segway from last’s year Kidney Week program: Then, how to treat COVID-19; now, how to prevent another pandemic.
Quaggin: The pandemic accelerated many advances and opportunities in our field. The kidney was only second to the lung as the organ of injury due to SARS-CoV-2, and patients living with kidney diseases were some of the most vulnerable to the virus. Nephrologists across the globe collaborated and innovated to provide lifesaving support for critically ill patients with COVID-19. As a community, we must be involved in the proactive planning to combat the next virus that will undoubtedly involve the kidney.
Healio/Nephrology News & Issues: Another key topic is equity in kidney care – as one of the opening sessions cites: “Kidney health justice.”
Quaggin: I hope all participants come away from Kidney Week recognizing that kidney health justice must be the foundation of every activity in our organization at ASN and in each of our own practices and workplaces. If we are to achieve our shared vision of a world without kidney diseases, we must ensure that all patients have access to and receive the best possible care. In the United States and in many other places around the world, this is not happening. We have made some progress, such as removal of race from the kidney function estimating equation (eGFR) and implementation of a new race-free formula; launching a student loan mitigation program for applicants from communities traditionally underrepresented in medicine; a new grant opportunity from focused on kidney health justice; and LGBTQ+ events, as well as ongoing activities supported through our ASN Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and Health Care Justice Committees.
Healio/Nephrology News & Issues: The loan mitigation program from the ASN is a new approach to not only help – but perhaps entice – more fellows to consider nephrology. Will we have enough nephrologists in the next decade?
Quaggin: There are anticipated shortages of nephrologists in the coming years as well as other crucial members of our kidney health care team. The loan mitigation program is one way to attract the best and brightest into our field.
For information on the Kidney Week program and to register, visit www.asn-online.org/education/kidneyweek.
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- Susan E. Quaggin, MD, FASN, is the Charles Horace Mayo Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University and chief of nephrology/hypertension and director of the Feinberg Cardiovascular and Renal Research Institute.
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