Kidney Disease

As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, the National Kidney Foundation’s Spring Clinical Meetings will again be held virtually, presenting program organizers with a unique set of challenges, according to program chair Mitchell H. Rosner, MD.

Paul K. Whelton, MB, MD, MSc, of Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, will receive the National Kidney Foundation’s David M. Hume Memorial Award at the 2021 Spring Clinical Meetings.

The National Kidney Foundation has launched a health equity advisory committee, an endeavor designed to reduce disparities in health care and promote community health and social justice, according to a press release.

When patients face advanced kidney disease, dialysis and transplantation are usually considered the two likely modality options.

As nephrologists know, the decline in kidney function is almost always a “silent disease,” and even patients who experience fatigue and low energy often attribute these symptoms to “getting old,” rather than as signs of illness.

Kidney disease is a public health crisis that costs the federal government more than $120 billion per year and threatens to bankrupt the Medicare Trust Fund.

The Frenova division of Fresenius Medical Care has developed an initiative aimed at developing “the largest renal-focused genomic registry in the world,” according to a company press release. The first participants have been enrolled.

The National Kidney Foundation has appointed Chris Jackson as its first chief people officer.

RenalytixAI and DaVita are collaborating on a program that will use an artificial intelligence-based diagnostic tool to aid in identifying individuals at risk for kidney disease or kidney failure.

KidneyX has set a Jan. 20 deadline for submissions to Round 2 of the COVID-19 Kidney Care Challenge.