The evolving ISN structure: form follows function
ISN is a global organization with many ‘moving parts’, and has organically grown over the last 50 years. With the changing needs of the nephrology community, technical and economic advances around the world, ISN has recognized the importance of improving our ability to hear the advice, concerns and opportunities from all regions of the world.
The ISN membership is a multi-talented group: we are clinicians, clinical, basic and health systems researchers, and educators, and we work in different areas of emphasis including glomerulonephritis, Acute Kidney Injury (AKI), Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), dialysis, and transplantation. To recognize these diverse but inter-related assets and the needs of the international community, we are making some changes in the way ISN is organized.
There have been Regional Committees representing the developing world for some years, but we are converting these into Regional Boards. These boards will have a much wider brief to enable bi-directional communication between the regions and the wider ISN membership, so as to coordinate and leverage regional and ISN assets: all to optimize outcomes for patients. We will expand the regional boards to include all regions, to have truly global representation. We want to make the best use of the five ISN Programs which are the main ‘effector arm’ of ISN’s developing world effort – CMEs, Educational Ambassadors, Fellowships, Research & Prevention, and Sister Centers (previously called our Global Outreach programs).
The chairs of these Programs will work closely with the chairs of our Topical Advisory Committees (AKI, CKD, Clinical Trials, Dialysis, Kidney Health in Disadvantaged Populations, Pathology), at the global and regional level through a new ISN Programs Board, where these programs and committees will be coordinated under the leadership of one Program Chair.
This strategic re-alignment of advisors, content experts and regional experts from the Programs Board, and our Regional Boards will ensure ISN is more effective than ever in our mission to build nephrology capacity throughout the world, and link developing and developed world in a sustainable manner.
John Feehally is ISN Programs Board Chair and Adeera Levin is ISN Regional Board Chair. For more information about the ISN Programs, CLICK HERE. To read more about the Regional Boards, CLICK HERE.
