Deadline 30 September 2011: GO SRC Program application

This month is the last chance to apply for the ISN Global Outreach (GO) Sister Renal Center Program. The deadline has been set for September 30, 2011. Find out more here.

The ISN SRC Program aims at enhancing the practice of nephrology in the developing world by linking emerging renal units with established centers of excellence in the developed world. It nurtures a partnership between two centers by supplying a framework and several benefits which depend on the level status within the program.

The benefits are all products of synergized efforts between all other ISN GO Programs, activities and overall strategies (fellowships, trainings, journal subscriptions, travel grants…). There are around 10 available places at the entry level.

For more information, please contact Samantha Rens at the ISN Headquarters, e-mail:
[email protected]This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.

The Instituto de Nefrología La Paz, Bolivia and the Mario Negri Institute in Bergamo, Italy recently took their Sister Renal Center (SRC) partnership to a new level.

In the coming months, La Paz Institute hopes to finish setting up the infrastructure and laboratory equipment for a prevention unit in the rural district of Caranavi, in western Bolivia. This will help reach more early stage renal disease patients, giving them the treatment they need faster.

The ISN Global Outreach (GO) SRC Program prides itself in pairing emerging renal centers with centers of excellence in the developed world so they can share expertise. On World Kidney Day, the SRC pair launched a renal prevention program in western and central Bolivia. Several training courses were conducted to introduce the prevention program to local nephrologists, nurses and clinical laboratory staff.

In March 2011, three Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis units (CAPD) were opened in the cities of La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. With support from the Mario Negri Institute, the Bolivian center is planning a telemedicine program to monitor these units in real time, constantly improving dialysis opportunities for many kidney disease patients.

Two Continuous Medical Education courses will be organized through this SRC partnership in the second half of this year.

The International Seminar of Nephrology will be organized from August 24 to 26, 2011 at Univalle University School of Medicine in La Paz, Bolivia. The International Course of Nephrology, Dialysis and Renal Transplantation will also take place in the same location from October 26 to 28,2011, coordinated by ISN, the Bolivian Society of Nephrology and the Bolivian Society of Organ Transplantation. It will focus on academic issues, prevention and early detection, and alternatives to immunosuppressive therapies and dialysis in developing countries.

The ISN GO Genitourinary Expert Group has just finished collecting worldwide data for the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2005 initiative.

The major task was to systematicaly review published literature on specific causes of genitourinary disease identified by the GBD 2005 Core Team Leaders in Seattle. This was carried out by members of the ISN GO Research & Prevention Committee mainly based at the Mario Negri Institute in Bergamo, Italy, including ISN Fellows in training at the institute.

Moreover, unpublished epidemiologic data retrieved from national and regional registries were also added to the study focusing on the incidence and prevalence of patients with End-Stage Renal Disease and renal replacement therapy. This was carried out by teams at the Mario Negri Institute in collaboration with chairs of ISN GO Regional Committees, and the GBD 2005 group.

In addition, information about Chronic Kidney Disease and risk factors derived from the ISN Kidney Disease Data Center (KDDC)  was provided to the GBD Core Team group. They will now start modelling this information according to different DISMOD models. The analysis will be ready by the end of August 2011.

In 2008, the GBD consortium offered the ISN GO Research & Prevention Committee to lead the team of experts on genitourinary diseases and collect data on the distinct genitourinary diseases burden. This group set out to develop detailed estimates of key epidemiological parameters (incidence, prevalence, duration, remission rates and case fatality rates) for the 20 regions included in GBD 2005, by sex,  age groups, for selected major genitourinary diseases and their sequelae.

The original Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD 1990 Study) was commissioned by the World Bank in 1991 to provide a comprehensive assessment of the burden of 107 diseases and injuries and 10 selected risk factors for the world and eight major regions in 1990.

ISN, the International Pediatric Nephrology Association, European Society of Pediatric Nephrology and ERA-EDTA recently supported an ISN Global Outreach Continuous Medical Education course on Chronic Kidney Disease: Epidemiology, prevention and management.

Adult and pediatric nephrology fellows as well as young nephrologists took part in this meeting designed to enhance their knowledge and skills to optimize and improve clinical practice and patient care.

Internationally-recognized experts from the US, Europe and Turkey organized lectures several interactive sessions, helping participants solve different clinical problems under the supervision of experts in the field. The course received accreditation from the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and the Turkish Medical Association.