Research

ISN support for CKD research in Nigeria

Children of African descent are three times more vulnerable to chronic kidney disease (CKD). There also exists limited data on the GFR-based evaluation of renal function in sub-Saharan Africa compared to hospital-based data, which may not be representative of the general population. An eight-month study supported by an ISN Clinical Research grant seeks to determine the prevalence of...

Supporting our programs: Meet KRUK and Renal Association

Our community helps us offer more training opportunities for our members.  Kidney Research UK and the Renal Association provide us with valuable support so that we can offer more educational opportunities to ISN members. As an ISN partner since 1990 and the leading charity committed to developing treatments, patient information and raising vital public awareness, Kidney...

Introducing the ISN Ethical Dialysis Taskforce

As part of the end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) focus, the ISN Ethical Dialysis Taskforce will publish reviews and position statements on ethical dialysis over the next few years. We already developed a first series of papers on ethical dialysis published in The Lancet. This will be relevant to emerging and developed countries. As a global society with...

Challenges of pediatric acute kidney injury in low- and middle-income countries

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is an increasingly significant yet underdiagnosed problem in pediatric care. In this latest Lancet update, colleagues from the International Pediatric Nephrology Association delve into international efforts to address this inequity, and what’s required from the World Health Organization and nephrology community to fulfil the 0by25 mission of zero preventable deaths from...

KI Reports: Heat stress and kidney health

One of this month’s most downloaded reports from Kidney International (KI) Reports is contributed by Fabiana Nerbass, winner of the ISN-H4KH New Investigator grant. This publication was made possible with valuable support from the ISN-H4KH New Investigator grant in partnership with Danone Nutricia. Fabiana Nerbass was awarded the funding in 2015.  Her research on “Occupational Heat Stress...

Going beyond the unknown

The Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology (CKDu) Consortium sets out to educate us about the international effort to fight CKDu, helping to understand the causes and slow down the impact of this mysterious form of CKD.   Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology (CKDu) constitutes a fatal and progressive loss of kidney function. It has...

Great news from SWC 2017 graduate in Nepal

Congratulations to Dr Kirshna Agarwal from Nepal, one of the 2017 ISN Scientific Writing Course (SWC) graduates. After attending one of the hands-on sessions of the course, he applied for a research grant at the Nepal Health Research Council, Ministry of Health. He was happy to let us know that his proposal was selected and...

Renal trials in diabetes need a platform: time for a global approach?

This recent commentary featured in The Lancet Diabetes Endocrinal 2017 focuses on the need for coordinated efforts and a large international database of patients with diabetes and nephropathy. It refers to ISN and its Advancing Clinical Trials group and Clinical Trial Networks who could be instrumental in achieving this objective. Read more HERE.

New tool for the diagnosis of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) in Malawi: update on ISN funded research

Our own epidemiological research, and that of others in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), demonstrates that the majority of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) seen at tertiary centers is severe (i.e. Stage 3 AKI). This suggests there is often a delay in AKI diagnosis after disease onset. Access to laboratory estimates of renal function (i.e serum urea or...

Request for applications: 2017 Mini-Sabbaticals in Nephropathology

The International Society of Nephrology Renal Pathology Committee seeks applications for one mini-sabbatical for a nephropathologist from a developing country* to provide partial support for short term in-depth study of renal pathology, by immersion in an established expert renal pathology laboratory for up to two weeks, in conjunction with attendance at a major renal...

Students and experts delve into the case of acid base and electrolyte disorders

As a member of the ISN South Asia Regional Board and the organizing chairman of the symposium, I attended the ISN endorsed symposium on acid base and electrolyte disorders held at the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences on January 21, 2017. We welcomed speakers from ISN including Dr Gopalakrishnan, Dr Fernando and Dr Parameshwaran who...

iNET-CKD and ISN-ACT: call for members

ISN iNET-CKD (International Network of Chronic Kidney Disease cohort studies) and ISN-ACT (Advancing Clinical Trials) are both currently seeking more members to join their causes. Interested in helping out? Register online. ISN iNET-CKD The ISN iNET-CKD (International Network of Chronic Kidney Disease cohort studies) is building an international network of existing, independently-funded chronic kidney disease (CKD)...

Lancet update: Syrian refugee children with kidney disease

This latest Lancet Kidney Campaign update by Professor Ayşe Balat, from Gaziantep University in Turkey. She delves into the issues surrounding the 66% increased prevalence of pediatric renal cases in Syrian refugee camps, based on data from refugee camp children screened at the center between 2012 to 2016. CLICK HERE to read the full update on the...

Lancet update: Strategies to increase living donor transplantation

As the European Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation was held earlier this month, Elmi Muller from the University of Cape Town writes about the observed stagnation of living donor kidney transplantation activity in many parts of the world. This update argues in favor of this practice and reviews various strategies to increase living donor...

Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 outlines chronic kidney disease as a cause of death worldwide

The results from a Global Burden of Disease study published today in The Lancet indicate that across the world deaths from chronic kidney disease (CKD) are increasing among both women and men. In Mexico, CKD is now the second cause of ‘years of life lost’ after ischemic heart disease, and the third cause is diabetes. The International...

Ohsumi receives Nobel Prize for Medicine 2016 for discovering the molecular and cell biological pathways of autophagy

Autophagy has been shown to be an essential mechanism by which cells remove defective molecular and cell organelle components, thereby renewing themselves constantly and especially after cell injury. Dysfunction of this pathway has since been shown to be important in the development of many acute and chronic degenerative diseases, including acute kidney injury and chronic...

The Lancet Kidney Campaign: Can water intake prevent CKD?

This new Lancet Update focuses on the controversial relationship between hydration and health, with many unfounded claims in the popular media. Nephrologist William Clark and epidemiologist Jessica Sontrop guide us through a growing body of evidence that suggests a protective effect of increased water intake on kidney function. The Lancet Kidney Campaign builds on ISN's...

The Global burden of CKD: a call for serious action

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) affects approximately 10% of the adult population, worldwide. While the distribution of those receiving and not getting renal replacement therapies(dialysis and transplantation), varies by country, the incidence and prevalence of CKD are remarkably consistent globally, though not always well documented. ISN’s latest endeavor, the ISN ‘Closing the Gaps’ initiative sets out to define...

KI Reports – going strong and accepting new submissions

Kidney International (KI) Reports was launched by ISN and Elsevier in June. Now, this new publication has reached the 25-published research article threshold. It has also been officially added to Elsevier’s list of journals ready to apply for PubMed Central indexing. The KI Reports submission page is live and the editorial board is currently accepting...