The ISN is an NGO in official relations with the WHO.
Hence, the WHO and the ISN will collaborate on four research and advocacy-related activities aimed at better understanding the global burden of kidney disease and addressing kidney disease in the context of global, regional and national NCD strategies.
For the period 2018-2020, the aim of the ISN-WHO collaboration will be to produce new evidence on important aspects of kidney disease and care delivery, increase knowledge and understanding, and seek to close important gaps in kidney care, including access to treatment.
The ISN develops regular editions of the Global Kidney Health Atlas, a global research project evaluating the current state of readiness, capacity and competence for delivering kidney health care.
The Atlas will provide the WHO with updated evidence on CKD and kidney disease.
The WHO will provide input on specific questions and policy gaps to be addressed in the research and will review the draft report.
The launch and dissemination of the final report will be coordinated with the WHO.
The ISN, in collaboration with leading experts and the WHO, has organized a platform to collect and provide an inventory of basic information on current human studies in CKDu. This information is shared via the ISN Observatory of CKDu to encourage new collaborations and exchanges. Reports and Position Papers are also regularly published and shared with the scientific community.
As requested, and in consultation with the WHO, the ISN will develop a technical package outlining the minimum requirements and operational considerations for use by decision-makers, health program managers, and hospitals when planning or expanding dialysis programs for patients with Kidney Failure.
The ISN supports the development of the overall policy and strategy of the WHO’s Global HEARTS initiative and contributes actively to the HEARTS technical package by regularly reviewing and updating materials.
The ISN-ANIO partnership provides education and training for health professionals who care for people with kidney disease in India. It’s a collaboration between the ISN, the American Nephrologists of Indian Origin (ANIO), the Indian Society of Nephrology and other nephrologists of the Indian Diaspora
To date, the ISN-ANIO partnership has achieved the following:
- 10 ISN-ANIO Scholars from India funded and hosted in North America and Western Europe; funding was via an endowment from Mr. Devanbhai R. Patel in memory of his father-in-law, Shri Indukaka Ipcowala
- 5 ISN-ANIO Fellows from India funded for training in North America, Latin America, and Western Europe
- 2 ISN-ANIO Diabetic Kidney Disease research projects
- 3 Scientific Writing Courses
- >1,000 participants graduated from the Clinical Nephropathology Certificate Programs (Basic and Advanced)
Stay tuned for future opportunities!
ISN and the Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology (APSN) have joined forces and built on their common expertise – bridging the gaps that exist in providing valuable care for 
kidney disease patients across Asia Pacific, including much of East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.
Each year, they co-fund several programs to increase capacity in this region.
ISN-APSN fellowships offer physicians from disadvantaged parts of the Asia Pacific the chance to train in centers of excellence.
“I will do my best to develop nephrology in my country.”
“I look for the support of a more experienced mentor and I can find that through the ISN Fellowship program,”
Nergui Mandkhai, Nephrology Department at the Second General Hospital in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), hosted by the Peking University First Hospital, China.
‘‘We plan to establish a center of excellence in interventional nephrology.”
“In Pakistan, we lack specialized centers to train fellows in the field of interventional nephrology,”
Riaz Muhammad Mohsin, Fatima Memorial Hospital (Pakistan), hosted by the Peking University First Hospital, China.
Find out more about the ISN Fellowships here.
With input from APSN, ISN matches institutions in low- and middle-income countries with centers of excellence, guiding and lending vital educational support to teams of doctors across Asia Pacific.
Offering a sustainable and competitive training scheme, the program prides itself on creating self-sufficient teams of experts. Graduated centers can use their new experience and knowledge and their cultural and linguistic know-how to train staff at other centers in their region, helping them set up vital treatment or care services.
“We are the biggest kidney transplantation and peritoneal dialysis center in Vietnam.”
Westmead Hospital (Australia) supported Cho Ray Hospital (Vietnam) in becoming a renal center of excellence. The center deals with many difficult referral cases from different hospitals from southern Vietnam and is considered as the most effective Organ Allocation Unit.
It is proud to achieve 60% patient remission rates thanks to a strong collaboration between the nephrology, pathology and HD departments.
Find out more about the ISN Sister Centers here.
Each year, ISN and APSN co-fund up to two specially-selected research study projects in low- and middle-income countries. These focus on acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, screening and intervention as well as specific local needs.
Between 2014 and 2018, it has poured 47,000 USD into the upcoming and ongoing studies:
- 2018: Nepal (Dharan) – CKD & TBC in Nepal, led by Ananda Chapagain
- 2017: Sri Lanka (Saliyapura) – Screening of CINAC among adolescents, led by Channa Jayasumana
- 2015: Thailand (Bangkok) – AKI epidemiology in Southeast Asia, led by Nattachai Srisawat
- 2014: China (Beijing) – The incidence and mortality of acute kidney
injury in China: A nationwide multi-center retrospective survey, led by Li Yang - 2014: India (Pondicherry) – Comparison of clinical characteristics etiology and the clinical outcomes between the patients’ community acquired and hospital acquired AKI, led by Sreejith Parameswaran.
Find out more about the ISN Clinical Research here.
By assigning international faculty to share specific hands-on skills at regional courses and give lecture at local meetings, ISN and APSN support essential teaching and training across medical communities.
This partnership co-founded the 11th International Congress of the International Society for Hemodialysis and organized by The Nephrology Society of Thailand.
Thailand’s Minister of Public opened the meeting to some one thousand guests. Lectures focused on hemodialysis, vascular access, CKD-MBD, infection, cardiovascular complications, and renal replacement therapy.