ISNNEWS
J U L Y I S S U E • 2 0 0 1
an official publication of the international society of nephrology
Supplement to Kidney
International
Giuseppe Remuzzi, MD, FRCP
Hundreds of thousands of patients around the world suffer from a kidney
disease. Sooner or later, they would need to undergo some form of renal replacement
therapy, such as dialysis or renal transplantation. These therapeutics save lives but not
without great cost, which is becoming a major issue of Western countries because it
accounts for a significant proportion of health expenditures.
The problem is more general and critical for developing countries.
Contemporary treatment of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is so costly that there is little
chance that the vast majority of the world’s population will be able to take
advantage of it. Poor countries simply cannot establish programs for regular renal
replacement therapy for all chronic renal patients because of its prohibitive cost. The
problem is further emphasized by the fact that some developing countries (in Africa, Asia,
Central, and South America) can not assure even the essential needs for a health program
to their population.
However, in many countries the overall quality of healthy system is
improving: neonatal and pediatric mortality is being reduced, life expectancy is
increasing, and the incidence of infections is decreasing. Even so most people live in
very poor houses with bad hygienic conditions, and education is scarce. Moreover
epidemiologic studies have shown that the incidence of acute and chronic renal diseases is
higher in the developing countries than in the developed world.
Thus, it is clear that for people with renal disease living in a poor
country some form of prevention of renal failure is the only possible way to offer some
sort of hope for the future. But prevention means, first of all, to identify early enough
those subjects who are at risk of developing a renal disease later in life. Therefore, a
major question for renal medicine in developing countries is how to define strategies that
would allow screening the subjects potentially at risk.
The Pilot Project in Bolivia
In 1992 the “Mario Negri Institute” for Pharmacological
Research in Bergamo, Italy initiated the Project for Renal Diseases in Bolivia as part of
the larger developments of “Mario Negri” for Latin America, and with the support
of the Associazione ‘Il Conventino’, Bergamo, Italy, and the cooperation of
young doctors of the Ospedale Giovanni XXIII in La Paz. After proper training of local
personnel in Italy, a unique large-scale campaign of screening and sensitization about
renal diseases was conducted in three selected areas (La Paz, Beni, and Cochabamba) of
Bolivia under the auspices of the Renal Sister Center Programme of the ISN. The campaign
was conducted by doctors, nurses, and social workers with the aid of brochures, which were
prepared for a largely illiterate population. An epidemiological network of 21
participating centers was established for the three Bolivian regions, which represent
three different geographical and socioeconomical environments. Twenty-five thousand
brochures were distributed. As a result of the educational campaign, 14,082 apparently
healthy subjects were referred to the First Clinical and Epidemiological Program of Renal
Diseases from rural and metropolitan areas. Urinary abnormalities were detected, using a
dipstick for chemical analysis, in 4,261 subjects at the first screening. For those
patients in whom urinary abnormalities were found, further investigations were carried out
to define the diagnosis; these patients were enrolled in a 3-year follow-up program.
The difficulties of such a large-scale study emerged when people with
positive dipstick results were asked to return for a second visit. Among the rural
population, traditional medicine is still very popular, and seconds visits to the sorcerer
doctor are not contemplated. Moreover, asymptomatic renal abnormalities were looked for,
and the patients’ concern was small; therefore, only 24% of positive subjects (1019)
returned for a second check. However, this first campaign demonstrated that a large scale
screening is feasible even with limited resources. These results highlighted the need for
educational and prevention programs for renal diseases in developing countries such as
Bolivia. This effort helped identify subjects at risk of developing renal diseases later
in life and provided the basis for building now a nationwide prevention strategy.
From the Pilot Model to a Systematic Program
COMGAN has recently established a Research Subcommittee. Unusually, the
goal was not to activate specific projects in selected developing countries but to
instigate a research program with a general structure that would be adaptable to different
local needs. The idea is to apply the approaches currently used to address clinical
problems in Western countries to developing countries. The general aim is to provide
developing countries with the tools to identify individuals at risk of renal diseases
later in life. This would provide the basis for promoting national prevention strategy and
to activate therapeutic intervention programs to be extended to the entire population. The
project is organized and directed by the COMGAN and is intended to give this opportunity
to the developing countries and areas of four continents: Africa, Asia, South America, and
Australia. Five countries for each continent are being identified for this project,
according to major needs and the evaluation of chances of success. A “reference
person” to coordinate the activity of the project is chosen for each country to
ensure uniformity of the interventions. A leader for each continent is chosen among the
reference persons of that specific continent. The leader and reference persons will meet
periodically to plan the program, evaluate the ongoing projects, discuss results, and
identify needs for future interventions. They will confer on the status of the program
once a year with a COMGAN representative in ad hoc meetings.
A project set up to improve nephrological health in developing
countries has to start with an educational program of the personnel who will be directly
involved in their country. The training will be offered at first to those who will be
chosen as reference persons. The education and training of personnel is achieved through
an ISN fellowship to be spent in a Nephrology Center with experience in COMGAN activities.
Such a center will be the “sponsor” and responsible for the research project for
that country. Once the project is activated in a given country, training is then extended
to other doctors and nurses specifically recommended by the reference person of the
project.
The final goal of the COMGAN Research Program is to activate a specific
project for the early diagnosis of renal diseases and prevention of the progression to
end-stage renal failure in the developing countries. This will allow first the definition
of the frequency of asymptomatic renal disease in a given developing country by screening
a large population of subjects at relatively low cost; subsequently, a pharmacological
strategy will be established for preventing renal disease progression in those patients
after the screening shows an enhanced protein excretion rate.
All the activities of the project for developing countries that can not
afford to support this program should be funded by COMGAN. This will be achieved by ISN
funds and by involving drug companies and institutions that may have an interest in the
COMGAN proposal. Indeed the critical point is to attract and involve pharmaceutical and
healthcare industries. The financial resources needed for this project are not enormous,
especially compared with that invested for far lesser problems in Western countries.
Dedicated human and intellectual resources that promote, accompany, and support this work
are, however, the prerequisite for generating the economic resources.
Overall the COMGAN Research Program should be viewed as a critical
element for achieving health equity. The Program should access the operational creativity
of the major nephrological research groups across the world to establish a cooperative
network aimed at producing, over the short and medium term, a health research capacity in
developing countries.
Giuseppe Remuzzi, MD,
FRCP
“Mario Negri” Institute for Pharmacological Research
Negri Bergamo Laboratories
Bergamo, Italy
From the Editor
Andrew Rees
ISN News this month celebrates past achievements while looking
forward to the future. In the last issue John Dirks described the enormous contribution
COMGAM has made to the advancement of nephrology throughout the world. This issue
describes two new COMGAN developments, both based securely on past achievements. Beppe
Remuzzi describes a research project on the epidemiology of renal disease in Bolivia,
which is a model of how to disseminate research expertise throughout the world for the
immediate benefit of patients. It demonstrates the enormous potential of the COMGAN
research committee chaired by Beppe Remuzzi, which now aims to initiate equally valuable
projects elsewhere. Eberhard Ritz describes another COMGAN initiative—the Model Renal
Sister Program—which builds on the experience of the highly successful Renal Sister
Program.
The World Congress of Nephrology in San Francisco in October will be a
celebration of all the exciting developments taking place in nephrology. It will also
signal a time of change in the ISN. Dr. Tom Andreoli completes his highly successful term
as ISN President and will be succeeded by Dr. Bob Atkins. The next issue will feature a
short profile of Dr. Atkins together with an interview in which he will describe his goals
for the future of ISN.
Model Sister Exchange Program—An Update
Eberhard Ritz
The Renal Sister Program is one of the key elements in the ISN’s
strategy to enhance nephrology throughout the world. The idea behind the program is to
provide money and support to twin renal units from an emerging country with those in the
developed world and, thus, facilitate the exchange of faculty members, fellows, and
students and to share expertise and equipment. The program was inaugurated officially at
the International Congress of Nephrology in Sydney in 1997 when 125 Sister Pairs were
presented with certificates. The links involved 57 emerging countries and 17 from the
developed world. The overriding idea of the Program is to enable individual units in
emerging countries to become regional for developing clinical services, training, and
research in renal disease. The Program has been an enormous success and the number of
sister partnerships has increased to 145. It rapidly became apparent that some of the most
effective partnerships were being constrained by the relatively modest funds available,
and so the directors of the Program decided to establish a second level of
support—the Renal Model Sister Exchange Program.
In 1999, the ISN Executive Committee decided that the ongoing Renal
Sister program should receive a further boost by providing seed money from a limited
budget and targeting it to selected renal units. These had developed highly successful
models for the transfer of knowledge and expertise into those regions of the world and
with limited access to the frontiers of nephrology: thus, the Model Sister Exchange
program was born. Eberhard Ritz, Charles van Ypersele, and Bill Couser, who agreed to
organize the program, have developed the procedures under which it operates. They
established criteria that must be satisfied before units can apply and procedures for
judging applications. They also described the local infrastructure that must be available
and the standards that must be met. All participants in the Sister Program were informed
about this new development, and the program was also advertised in Kidney International
and on the ISN website. To date a total of 26 applications have been received and so far 6
have been funded. A further 8 applications are still under consideration pending further
clarifications or local site visits.
The Program seeks to develop an equitable geographical distribution of
the partnerships and to establish an appropriate balance between promotion of academic
nephrology and provision of renal care. Implementation of a strong renal training program
is an essential part of a successful application, and linguistic competence is important.
Ideally, the centers should be the hub of national and regional nephrological activity.
Model Sister Centers are expected to organize local and national conferences in
conjunction with the partner center in the developed world. The first six Model Sister
Exchange Centers have previously demonstrated the strength and effectiveness of their
existing relationships and have a record of highly successful collaborations in the past.
The partnerships are:
• Sri-Ramachandra Hospital (G. Abraham) in Porur Chennai Tamilnadu, India, and the
University of Toronto, Toronto Hospital (E. H. Cole), Toronto, Canada.
• Institute de Nefrologia La Habana (J. Alfonzo), Cuba and Hospital Gregorio
Maranon (F. Valderrabano), Madrid, Spain.
• Kaunas Medical Academy, Department Nephrology (V. Kuzminskis), Lithuania and
University Hospital, Renal Division (N. Lameire), Gent, Belgium.
• The Kidney Centre (J. Naqvi), Karachi, Pakistan and Royal Melbourne Hospital (G.
Becker), Melbourne, Australia.
• Laboratorio San Calixto, La Paz, Bolivia (Dr. Raul Plata), and Laboratorio Negri
(G. Remuzzi), Bergamo.
• Parhon Hospital (A. Covic), Iasi, Romania and Guy’s Hospital (D.
Goldsmith), London, UK.
The COMGAN committee is aware that the limited budget provides only for
seed money to upgrade programs and is keen to raise additional resources to finance the
program. So far the program has met considerable interest outside of the ISN and
particular efforts will be made to provide training of nonmedical personnel and
information on standards of quality in renal replacement therapy. These are some of the
reasons why Baxter Healthcare have generously decided to sponsor the Program. We are
delighted with their support and look forward to creating new model sister centers.
Secretary-General’s Office News
Rashad Barsoum, MD, FRCP, FRCPE
Since November 2000 the fellowship Program has been administered
exclusively from the Cairo office. Previously the Cairo office used to receive
applications for new fellowships and extensions, organize the selection procedure, and
issue the final training certificates. The Amsterdam office used to maintain contact with
the selected fellows throughout their training. The new system has simplified the lines of
communication and eliminated bureaucracy. The financial aspects of the Program remain with
the Treasurer’s office in Atlanta.
Arrangements for the forthcoming Council elections are now complete and
the Amsterdam office is ready. This years’ procedure will combine electronic, mail,
and on-site ballots. A simple and friendly Internet ballot system has been developed by
Onno de Boer and has been subjected to vigorous tests for accuracy and security. The
Amsterdam office staff gained extensive experience with postal ballots during the 1999
Council elections and have now been trained to handle the Internet ballot. We hope that
these new procedures will make it easier and increase the number of members who take part
in electing future ISN leaders.
The Permanent Secretariat in Amsterdam has become increasingly busy in
providing outstanding administrative and executive support for most of the ISN committees.
This would have been impossible were it not for the complete devotion of its Executive
Director, Ilja Huang and her assistant, Ren� Bekhuis. A new part-time member of staff,
Sanchita Mukherjee, has been appointed to ensure that standards are maintained.
International promotion of ISN is becoming more organized. All
brochures, flyers, banners, and application forms have been updated and are used by ISN
commissions. Last October, at the ASN meeting in Toronto, the ISN had a large booth to
promote Kidney International and publicize the various ISN commissions, program,
and offices. Posters, video displays, on-line computers, and printed material were
available, and the booth became a real meeting point. After the success of this venture
the Society will have similar booths in upcoming large international meetings as well as
smaller regional and local conferences.
For almost a year the Executive has been updating the ISN Constitution
to reflect the expanding ISN activities and emphasize its global mission. Major changes
include merging of the Executive and Management Committees, expanding the merge committee
by three members, and increasing the number of Councillors from 25 to 27. The new
Constitution also provides more precise definition of the terms of service of officers and
commission chairs. The proposed new Constitution was ratified by Council at its recent
meeting in Toronto and will be repeatedly published in Kidney International. It
will be submitted for approval by the General Assembly in October in San Francisco.
ISN Council Elections and Biographies of Candidates
Rashad Barsoum
Elections are underway to replace the six ISN councillors who took up
their positions in 1995. Three additional members of Council will also be required if the
proposed changes to the ISN constitution are ratified by the General Assembly at the World
Congress of Nephrology in San Francisco in October 2001. These will be 2 new positions for
East and South East Asia, respectively, and a replacement for Dr. Jared Grantham who will
join the Executive Committee. This means that a total of 9 new council members will be
required if the new ISN Constitution is accepted. Each councillor will represent a
particular region, and there is a choice between two candidates for each region. You can
vote electronically, by mail, or in person at the San Francisco meeting. The voting
procedures were published in the April 2001 issue of Kidney International and are
available on the ISN website (www.isn-online.org). ISN News is delighted to publish
the names and biographies of all the candidates to help inform your choice.
Brief Biographies of ISN Council Nominees 2001
EUROPE
Friedlander, Gerard (France):
Professor of Physiology and Head, INSERM U 426, Xavier-Bichat Medical School; Chief,
Department of Clinical Investigation, Bichat Hospital, Paris. Primary Interests: Renal physiology and biochemistry. Published over 80 papers. Offices and Achievements: Subject Editor 1999, Nephrology, Dialysis
and Transplantation; Member, INSERM scientific commission.
Rossier, Bernard C. (Switzerland): Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and previously Director of the Institute of
Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Lausanne. Member, Scientific Council, Swiss
National Fund for Scientific Research. Primary
Interests: Membrane sodium transport in
health and disease with special reference to genetic forms of hypertension. Published over
120 original papers and numerous reviews. Offices
and Achievements: Recipient of the Prix
Marcel Benoist and of the Homer Smith Award; recipient of Honorary Doctorate from the
Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris.
SOUTH AMERICA
Martin, Rodolfo S. (Argentina): Professor and Chairman, Department of Medicine, Austral University, and Career
Investigator, National Council for Scientific and Technical Research, Buenos Aires. Primary Interests: Clinical renal disease and transplantation. Published more than 40
original papers and several reviews. Offices
and Achievements: President, Argentine
Society for Clinical Research (1994); Treasurer, Argentine Society of Nephrology
(1996–1997); Secretary General, Local Organizing Committee, XVth International
Congress of Nephrology (1998–1999); recipient of the Victor Miatello Prize and of the
Qualitas Alfredo Lanari Prize.
Massari, Pablo U. (Argentina): Associate Professor of Medicine and Director, Postgraduate School of Nephrology,
Catholic University of Cordoba Medical School; Chief, Renal Service, Department of
Internal Medicine, Hospital Privado-Centro Medico de Cordoba. Primary Interests: Clinical renal disease, transplantation, bone and mineral disorders.
Published over 40 original papers and several reviews. Offices and Achievements: President, Argentine Society of Nephrology
(1992–1994) and of the Latin American Society of Nephrology ond Hypertension
(1996–1999); member COMGAN.
SOUTH AMERICA
Bellorin-Font, Ezequiel (Venezuela): Professor of Postgraduate Nephrology, Hospital Universitario de Caracas School
of Medicine; Director, National Center for Dialysis and Transplantation, Hospital
Universitario de Caracas and the Ministry of Health. Primary Interests: Bone and mineral metabolism, clinical renal disease and transplantation.
Published over 70 original papers. Offices
and Achievements: President of the Latin
American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension (1999–present); President, Venezuelan
Society of Nephrology (1988–1991); Member, Scientific Committee, XVth International
Congress of Nephrology.
Weisinger, Jose R. (Venezuela): Professor of Medicine, Universidad Central de Venezuela, and Head, Division of
Nephrology and Renal Transplantation, Hospital Universitario de Caracas. Primary Interests: Bone and mineral metabolism, clinical renal disease and transplantation.
Published close to 80 original papers. Offices
and Achievements: President, Latin
American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension (1991–1994); Member, Nominating
Committee, International Society of Nephrology (1990–1993); Fellow of the American
College of Physicians; recipient of the Francisco de Venanzi Prize for Research in
Medicine.
ASIA-PACIFIC:
Pollock, Carol Anne (Australia): Professor of Medicine, University of Sydney; Chair of Medicine and Visiting
Medical Officer in Nephrology and General Medicine, Royal North Shore Hospital. Primary Interests: Clinical and experimental renal disease, peritoneal dialysis and renal
transplantation. Published over 60 original papers and many invited articles. Offices and Achievements: Councilor and Chair of the Scientific Program and
Education Committee, Australian and New Zealand Society of Nephrology; Member and
Secretary of the Scientific Program Committee, and Coordinator of Pre-Congress Sponsored
Scientific Sessions for the XIIIth Congress of the International Society of Nephrology.
Harris, David Charles Hamlyn (Australia): Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Sydney, and
Director of Dialysis, Western Sydney Renal Service. Primary Interests: Clinical and experimental renal disease and dialysis. Published over 60
original papers and many invited articles. Offices and Achievements: President-elect,
Australia and New Zealand Society of Nephrology; Councilor, Asian-Pacific Society of
Nephrology; Chairman, Scientific Program Committee, XIVth Congress of the International
Society of Nephrology. Recipient, T. J. Neale Prize of the Australian and New Zealand
Society of Nephrology.
EAST ASIA: (PROVISIONAL)
Lin, Shanyan (China):
Professor of Medicine and Director, Kidney Research Institute, Shanghai Medical
University; Chief, Division of Nephrology, Hua Shan Hospital. Primary Interests: Clinical and experimental renal disease especially diabetic nephropathy.
Published over 250 original and review articles. Offices and Achievements:
President, Chinese Society of Nephrology; Councilor, COMGAN, International Society of
Nephrology. Recipient of many awards from Chinese governmental agencies.
Wang, Hai Yan (China):
Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of Nephrology, Beijing Medical University;
Director, Key Laboratory of Nephrology, National Ministry of Health. Primary Interests: Mechanism and prevention of clinical and experimental renal disease and acute
renal failure. Published over 150 original papers and several review articles. Offices and Achievements: Vice-President, Chinese Medical Association;
President, Chinese Society of Internal Medicine; President, Chinese Society of Nephrology
(1994–1998); Member of Committees of the International Society of Nephrology
including COMGAN. Recipient of many awards and recognitions from Chinese organizations,
commissions, and governmental agencies.
SOUTH ASIA: (PROVISIONAL)
Naqvi, Sayyid Ali Jaffer (Pakistan): Professor of Nephrology, the Kidney Center; Consultant Nephrologist, Pakistan
Navy; Honorary Professor, Armed Forces Medical Center. Primary Interests: Clinical renal disease and dialysis. Published over 50 papers and
reviews. Offices and Achievements: Founding President, Pakistan Society of Nephrology;
President-elect, Pakistan Society of Transplantation; served as Councilor of the Asian
Pacific Society of Nephrology; Founding Councilor, Asian Transplant Society; Member of
COMGAN, International Society of Nephrology. Awarded Sitar-e-Imtiaz by government of
Pakistan.
Shafi, Tahir (Pakistan):
Professor of Nephrology, Head, Division of Medicine, Chairman and Dean, Shaikh Zayed
Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lahore. Honorary Director, National Health Research
Complex. Dean, Faculty of Nephrology, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan. Primary Interests: Clinical renal disease and dialysis. Published over 25 papers and
reviews. Offices and Achievements: President, Pakistan Society of Nephrology.
NORTH AMERICA: (POSITION #1)
Arnaout, Amin (USA):
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Chief, Renal Unit, Massachusetts General
Hospital; Director, Leukocyte Biology and Inflammation Program, and Structural Biology
Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Primary Interests: Adhesion
molecules in ischemia-reperfusion injury, biology of the endothelium and the pathogenesis
of vasculitis, polycystic kidney disease, and the structure and function of beta-2
integrins. Published over 80 original papers and several review articles. Offices and Achievements: Program Chairman, American Society of Nephrology
(1998); Chairman, Basic Science Committee, American Society of Nephrology; Recipient,
Established Investigator Award, American Heart Association (1982–1987); Member,
Allergy, Clinical Immunology & Transplantation Committee, National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health; Managing Editor, Frontiers
in Bioscience.
Coffman, Thomas M. (USA):
Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of Nephrology, Duke University Medical Center,
Durham, North Carolina. Primary Interests: Application of gene-targeting to hypertension and
transplantation research; study of the renin-angiotensin system and the prostaglandins in
the regulation of renal function using knockout animal models. Published close to 100
original papers and several review articles. Offices and Achievements:
Chairman, Program Committee (1999), and Awards Committee (2000), American Society of
Nephrology; Member, Awards Committee and Program Committee, American Society of
Transplantation; Member Program Committee, Council for High Blood Pressure Research,
American Heart Association; Associate Editor, Primer on Kidney Diseases, National
Kidney Foundation.
NORTH AMERICA (POSITION #2)
Cerdas Calderon, Manuel (Costa Rica): Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine, Escuela Autonoma de Ciencias Medicas
de Centroamerica; Clinical Chief, Nephrology Service, Mexico Hospital, San Jose, Costa
Rica. Primary Interests: Clinical renal disease, dialysis and
transplantation. Offices and Achievements: President, Costa Rica Nephrology Society, and
Central America Nephrology Society. Member, COMGAN, International Society of Nephrology.
Correa-Rotter, Ricardo (Mexico): Professor and Researcher, and Head of the Department of Nephrology, Instituto
Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion Salvador Zubiran, Mexico. Primary Interests: The renin-angiotensin system in experimental nephrotic syndrome; clinical renal
disease and dialysis. Published close to 60 original papers and many review articles. Offices and Achievements: President, Instituto Mexicano de.Investigaciones Nefrologicas (1997);
Copresident, Curriculum Commission, Latin aAmerican Society of Nephrology; Member, Program
Committee American Society of Nephrology (2000). Recipient, Jaime Woolrich Award for
Research in Nephrology.
NORTH AMERICA: (Position #3)
Bergeron, Michel (Canada):
Professor of Physiology, and Chairman of the Department of Physiology(1986-1993),
University of Montreal. Primary
Interests: Aminoacid transport; cell
ultrastructure and function relationships. Published more than 200 research articles and
reviews. Offices and Achievements: President, Canadian Physiological Society (1986–1987);
President, Federation of Associations for the Advancement of Science in the American
Hemisphere (1985–1987); Secretary, VIIth Congress of the International Society of
Nephrology; Member, Nominating Committee, International Society of Nephrology
(1981–1984); Member, Editorial Board of Kidney International (1990–1994).
Vinay, Patrick (Canada):
Professor of Medicine and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal;
previously Chairman, Department of Medicine, Hopital Notre-Dame of Montreal. Primary Interests: Renal biochemistry and metabolism as it relates to ammonia genesis and the
energetics of tubular epithelial transport. Published over 170 original papers and many
review articles. Offices and Achievements: President of the Foundation for Health Research of Quebec
(1988–1992); President, Clinical Research Club of Quebec (1984–1985); President,
Canadian Society of Nephrology (1989–1990); President, American Society of Renal
Biochemistry and Metabolism (1993–present). Recipient of the Medal of the 150th
Anniversary of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, and of the Commemorative
Medal of the 25th Anniversary of the Kidney Foundation of Canada.
Current Councilors Period
Arrizurieta, Elvira (Argentina) 1995–2001
Bichet, Daniel (Canada) 1995–2001
Field, Michael (Australia) 1995–2001
Hostetter, Thomas (USA) 1995–2001
Murer, Heini (Switzerland) 1995–2001
Rodriguez-Iturbe, Bernardo (Venezuela) 1995–2001
Briggs, Josephine (USA) 1997–2003
Clarkson, Anthony (Australia) 1997–2003
Grantham, Jared (USA) 1997–2003
Mogensen, Carl (Denmark) 1997–2003
Ponticelli, Claudio (Italy) 1997–2003
Rees, Andrew (UK) 1997–2003
Ritz, Eberhard (Germany) 1997–2003
Sakai, Hideto (Japan) 1997–2003
Sitprija, Visith (Thailand) 1997–2003
Al-Khader, Abdullah Ahmed (Saudi Arabia) 1999–2005
Chugh, Kirpal (India) 1999–2005
Couser, William (USA) 1999–2005
Garcia Garcia, Guillermo (Mexico) 1999–2005
Lameire, Norbert (Belgium) 1999–2005
Meyers, Anthony (South Africa) 1999–2005
Riella, Miguel Carlos (Brazil) 1999–2005
Sasaki, Sei (Japan) 1999–2005
Solez, Kim (Canada) 1999–2005
Tomilina, Natalia (Russia) 1999–2005
International Congress of Nephrology 2007
Call for Bids
Regional and National Societies are in-vited to bid for the 2007 ICN,
but in accordance with the traditional continental rotation of Congress, bids from Africa
and Latin America shall have the highest priority. For details and application forms,
please contact the Secretary-General, Professor Rashad Barsoum (Tele-fax: ++ 20 (2) 579
0267; E-mail:[email protected]) or the Executive Director, Ms. Ilja Huang (Fax: ++ 31 (20)
696 0389; Tel: ++ 31 20 566 4100 [4939]; E-mail: [email protected]). Formal applications must
be made in writing before the end of June 2001. Eligible applicants shall be invited to
make an oral presentation during the Council meeting in San Francisco, where the final
decision will be made.
Investigate, Educate, Collaborate
Qais Al-Awqati, MD and Steven Hebert, MD
The ASN and ISN join forces for the World Congress of Nephrology to be
held at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco from October 12–17, 2001. The
congress is organized by Dr. Robert J. Alpern, ASN President, and Dr. Thomas E. Andreoli,
ISN President, and will be a uniquely important week for the nephrology community. It is
expected to bring together more than 15,000 attendees from all over the world.
The ISN and ASN have the great privilege of collaborating to present a
showcase of research findings as well as basic and clinical updates. The Program
committee, chaired by Dr. Qais Al-Awqati, with Dr. Steve Hebert as Vice-Chairman, has done
an outstanding job. They have organized plenary sessions, basic and clinical science
symposia, clinical nephrology conferences, and poster sessions. The Journal of the
American Society of Nephrology will also publish a special supplement to its September
issue for the more than 3,000 scientific abstracts expected for the World Congress of
Nephrology.
The meeting combines the strengths of both the ASN and ISN to develop
an educational, informative, and thought-provoking program. State-of-the-art lectures
include those by Dr. William Evans from the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, St.
Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, who will talk about the new and
increasingly important science of pharmacogenomics, and Dr. Ron Kahn from the Joslin
Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, who will describe the latest developments in
insulin receptor research.
The ASN’s postgraduate education courses will also continue at the
World Congress of Nephrology under the guidance of Robert Narins, M.D., ASN’s
director of education programs. Dr. Narins also has the responsibility for overseeing the
clinical nephrology conferences.
The ASN and ISN will present major society awards including the
ASN’s Homer W. Smith (cosponsored by the New York Heart Association), John P. Peters,
Belding H. Scribner (cosponsored by the American Heart Association), and Young
Investigator Awards. The ISN will present the A.N. Richards and Jean Hamburger Awards and
the Claude Amiel and Donald Seldin Lectures. Travel awards will be available for qualified
individuals.
Accommodations: The ASN and ISN have secured rooms in many San
Francisco Hotels. The headquarters hotel is the San Francisco Marriott. A complete list of
meeting hotels and rates will be published in the registration brochure to be mailed in
June.
Registration: Registration information will be available in June.
If you are not a member of the ASN or ISN and would like to receive registration
information, please send an E-mail message to [email protected].
Qais Al-Awqati is
Chair of the 2001 Program Committee, and Steven Hebert is Vice Chair.
Renal Disease in Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups
An official post-conference meeting of the ASN/ISN World Congress of
Nephrology is to be held at the Eldorado Hotel, Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 19–20,
2001. It is sponsored by the International Society of Nephrology, the American Society of
Nephrology and the NIH/NIDDK and has Barry Brenner as President, John Dirks as Chairman,
and David Pugsley as Program Director.
The meeting will be held as a plenary session. Posters are invited and
will be displayed concurrently. Prizes will be offered for the best poster, judged on
site. The registration fee is $150 (US).
More details on the program and registration forms will be posted on
the Congress Web site (www.isn-online.org). For more information on this meeting, contact
Dr. David Pugsley at [email protected] or by fax at 61 8 8222 6026 or by mail
at Renal Unit, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, 5011 Australia.