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The Alfred Newton Richards Award recognizes outstanding basic research in kidney-related fields. This year’s winner, Professor Carol Pollock, is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia. She comments, “I am incredibly honored to be the recipient of this award.”

Professor Pollock holds several awards, including the 2014 Ministerial Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Research and the 2021 Haiyan Wang Award from the Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology. She received a Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research from the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Supervision and was made Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in 2021 for her distinguished service to nephrology.

Professor Pollock has over 440 publications published in basic research and clinical medicine and over 29,000 citations. She is an inaugural Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and was recognized as a “Distinguished Professor” by the University of Sydney.

Professor Pollock has held several leadership roles within the kidney community at large and ISN, including Scientific Chair of the World Congress of Nephrology in 2013.

She is currently chair of Kidney Health Australia, the New South Wales Bureau of Health Information and the Health Advisory Committee for Lineaire Projects, and deputy chair of the Australian Organ, Tissue and Transplant Authority. She sits on the scientific advisory committee of Pharmaxis Ltd., is a director at Certa Therapeutics and the Photobionics Institute and an ambassador of Business Events Sydney.

The Roscoe R. Robinson Award acknowledges outstanding achievements in the field of education in nephrology and medicine. This year’s winner, ProfessorCharles E. Alpers, is the Nelson Fausto-Ann De Lancey Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA.

He comments, “Roscoe Robinson is considered one of the giants of modern nephrology and a strong proponent of efforts in nephrology education. I am indeed both humbled and honored to receive this prestigious ISN award that bears his name.”

Professor Alpers has directed a large renal biopsy pathology service at the University of Washington for 30 years. His research focuses on models of diabetic nephropathy, mechanisms that mediate progressive glomerular injury in experimental models of glomerulonephritis, and translational studies in patients. His commitment to improving diagnostic renal pathology is reflected in his participation in the Kidney Precision Medicine Project.

Professor Alpers has been involved in several leadership roles, including interim chair of the Department of Pathology, director of the University of Washington Medicine Renal Pathology Service, founding director of the Renal Pathology Fellowship,

and councilor and president of the Renal Pathology Society.

He has served as associate editor of The American Journal of Pathology and JASN, and pathology editor of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Currently, he serves on several kidney journal editorial boards.

Professor Alpers has co-organized and co-directed courses in renal pathology at several World Congress of Nephrology meetings and American Society of Nephrology annual meetings.

The Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize recognizes individuals for excellence and leadership in polycystic kidney disease (PKD) clinical or basic research whose seminal scientific work has advanced PKD knowledge and treatment. This year’s winner, Professor Terry Watnick, is the Joan B. and John H. Sadler Professor of Nephrology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

She comments, “I am humbled by this award and honored to join a group of individuals who have contributed so significantly to advancing our understanding of polycystic kidney disease and its complications. Over the past 20 years, we have gone from primarily providing supportive care to having an FDA-approved medication. I look forward to the next 20 years with optimism.”

Professor Watnick was involved in developing the first genetic test for autosomal dominant PKD (ADPKD) and, alongside colleagues, made several important discoveries about the genetic basis of PKD using DNA analysis.

She has since established an independent laboratory, applying multiple approaches to understanding PKD biology, including using model organisms. Her work has made an important contribution to understanding the critical function that PKD proteins play in vasculature. She continues to work on the genetics and pathophysiology of aneurysm formation, a poorly understood manifestation of ADPKD.

Professor Watnick has been an investigator in multicenter trials, including TEMPO, REPRISE and TAME. She was past chair of the PKD Foundation scientific advisory committee and supports collaborative science to achieve a cure for PKD.

Since 2010, she has led the Maryland PKD Research and Translation Core Center and is co-principal investigator of the coordinating site for the NIH-funded PKD Centers’ program. In this capacity, she works to ensure that research resources are distributed to a broad community of investigators to advance cutting-edge PKD science.