Call for expressions of interest/nominations for
ISN Clinical Research Program Committee Members

The ISN welcomes expressions of interest/nominations for the positions of members of the ISN Clinical Research Program Committee. The positions will start at the World Congress of Nephrology 2025 (WCN’25).

About the ISN Clinical Research Program Committee

The Clinical Research Program Committee is in charge of providing support to the Clinical Research Program (CRP), which is part of the overall capacity building effort of the ISN and strives to bring essential teaching and training to doctors and healthcare practitioners in low resource countries (i.e. LICs, LMICs and UMICs as per World Bank status). By providing support to local nephrologists, health professionals and authorities, the CRP intends to build research capacity in low resource countries, and help implement research projects at a local level to detect and manage non-communicable chronic diseases such as CKD, AKI, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The Clinical Research Program Committee is also in charge of organizing a Scientific Writing Course (SWC) to help physicians and researchers from a range of backgrounds to finetune their writing skills.

The objectives of the Clinical Research Program Committee are to:

• Ensure implementation of the ISN strategic framework – as defined by ISN governing bodies (Executive Committee/Council) – in decision-making process and across all activities of the CRP.
• Distribute the budget allocated to CRP in the most equitable possible manner (depending on the incoming applications) and in a way that is consistent with the aims of the Program and the ISN strategic planning framework (objectives and priorities). The projects that are funded by the CRP are screening and intervention studies, clinical research studies addressing specific local needs, acute kidney injury studies and chronic kidney disease studies.
• Actively engage and liaise with Regional Boards and other relevant ISN Supporting Groups to maximize information exchange and strategic planning while promoting the Program’s activities.
• Support fundraising and strategic partnerships – in full collaboration with ISN Headquarters.

The Role 

The main role of Clinical Research Program Committee members is to review applications for the ISN CRP and assist in selecting proposals to receive CRP grants, as well as provide feedback to applicants. Applications are submitted in May and are reviewed in June-July of each year. Members are also expected to take part in other reviews as well on occasion, such as selecting participants for the SWC or the winners of the Clinical Research Awards.

Clinical Research Program Committee members also take part in discussions to make improvements to the CRP as needed, and to find other ways to build research capacity in low resource countries and improve the research skills of physicians and researchers worldwide.

Selection Criteria

• Evidence of having successfully obtained research funding.
• Evidence of having led a research team (e.g., principal or co-investigator in clinical trials or large observational studies, or qualitative research)
• Evidence of having obtained ethical review/clearance for research.
• Evidence of capacity building: supervision of master’s and/or PhD candidates.
• Evidence of published research publications in line with the above points showing completion of listed projects/grants.
• Demonstrated ability to critique grant applications and manuscripts as evidenced by participation in review of grants for local and/or national granting bodies or societies and peer review of manuscripts for journals.
• ISN member in good standing.
• Email accessible and able to regularly connect to conference calls.
• Apply by 5 p.m. CEST on Friday, October 18, 2024.

Timeline

To learn more about:

• Clinical Research at the ISN, click here 
• the ISN Clinical Research Committee, click here 
• this position, or if you have questions, email Kelci Wilford at kwilford@theisn.org