Season 3 Episode 12a: Kidney Disease in Uganda - a republishing from 2015

World Kidney Day (WKD) is observed every year on the Second Thursday of March. In 2023, it falls on March 14th and aims to advocate for Kidney Health for All! Professor Alessandro Balducci, co-chair of the WKD Joint Steering Committee, is joined in this episode by WKD Joint Steering Committee members Dr. Dina Abdellatif, Dr. Ricardo Correa-Rotter, and Dr. Katherine Tuttle, the Executive Director for Research at Providence Inland Northwest Health. The WKD Joint Steering Committee has declared WKD 2024 as “Advancing equitable access to care and optimal medication practice.” Their conversation covers the goals of WKD, raising awareness about the importance of ensuring equitable access to appropriate treatment and care for people living with kidney disease, in order to improve their quality of life and delay the progression of the disease. 

Recently the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation (PKDF) held a joint webinar to discuss and explore the significant impact of health disparities on the outcomes for patients with Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD). In the latest episode of the Global Kidney Care Podcast, Dr. Maria E. Diaz-Gonzalez de Ferris, Dr. Sambhavi Krishnamoorthy and patient advocate Funke Ojuri continue the conversation on Health disparities that are often driven by socioeconomic, racial, and geographic factors and how they play a crucial role in shaping the progression of ADPKD and its associated complications. 

This re-published episode was originally published in 2015 and is hosted by Jack Milln and he takes a look at Uganda and how kidney disease has affected the lives of the people in this country. It also touches on the hardships of relying on expensive treatment options in a resource-poor country. 

The developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa are under threat by an emerging epidemic of kidney disease. Populations are no longer solely affected by ‘diseases of poverty’ such as HIV/TB/malaria but also ‘diseases of affluence’ such as diabetes and hypertension. Disease is often asymptomatic until end-stage disease develops requiring expensive treatment options such as transplant or dialysis.

In this episode you will here from patients in Uganda about how kidney disease has affected their lives, and the hardships of relying on expensive treatment options in a resource-poor country. 

In the first ever podcast collaboration between ISN and ASON; Raad Chowdhury hosts a panel of Fellows in discussing an Onconephrology Case with an electrolyte twist. 

Augusto Cesar Santos Jr MD, FASN, FISN has a discussion with Peter Kotanko, MD, FASN on the intersection of nephrology and artificial intelligence (AI). They discuss how AI is being used in the field of nephrology, what the future holds, and the potential pitfalls of this new and ever changing technology.

Physical activity is crucial for patients with kidney disease to maintain independence and an optimal quality of life.

This episode of the Global Kidney Care Podcast covers topics related to physical activity and kidney disease, Professor Paul Bennett, RN PhD FISN Deputy Head (Research), SONM, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia and a member of the ISN Kidney Health Professionals Working Group leads a discussion that covers what barriers patients and health care providers face and how they can inspire lifelong physical activity among their patients. 

Paul is joined by a truly diverse set of international guests: 

·      Stephanie Thompson, MD PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Nephrology, University of Alberta, Canada

·      Heitor S. Ribeiro, PhD, Exercise physiologist, Postdoctoral Research fellow at the School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

·      Pedro Martins, coordinator of the physical exercise program at NephroCare Portugal (Fresenius Medical Care); PhD student at the University of Maia, Portugal

·      Wilson Du, Renal Warrior, diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease Wilson turned to physical activity to not only improve his health, but to take control of his diagnoses. Today he is inspiring others who suffer with similar diagnosis to improve their lives through exercise. 

Kidneyeducation.com was founded by the Nephrologist Dr Sanjay Pandya with the mission to educate patients and their families about kidney care across all boundaries for the prevention of kidney disease. Today provides content in over 40 languages presented by nephrologists and other healthcare providers. 

Dr Tushar Vachharajani, former chair of the ISN Education Working Group interviews Dr Pandya on the origins, goals and future of website. 

Fergus Caskey, chair of the ISN Research Working Group, interviews ISN President Masaomi Nangaku and immediate Past President Agnes Fogo on the first guidance for the optimal conduct of translational animal studies for developing new drugs to treat kidney disease.

Read the guidance in Kidney International here.

Agnes Fogo discusses the inspiration for and aim of the meeting: to guide improvements in translational animal studies to help develop new drugs to treat kidney diseases.

Masaomi Nangaku talks about essential factors to consider in animal studies and the future of organoids and organs-on-a-chip.

The guidance is the first of its kind. It was developed by experts in the global kidney community following the “TRANSFORM; TRAnslational Nephrology Science FOR new Medications” consensus meeting held in 2022.

Access more information about the initiative:

• ARRIVE Guidelines
• Infographics of the summary of all the recommendations for pre-clinical animal studies in translational nephrology

Michele Provenzano and Daniel O'Hara, coordinators of the ISN-ACT Global Trials Focus (GTF)*, interview international trial experts and ISN-ACT (Advancing Clinical Trials) chair and deputy chair Meg Jardine and Adeera Levin.  

Get involved in international clinical trials: Join the ISN-ACT Network here. 

Meg Jardine talks about some of the clinical trials she's been involved in, barriers to overcome in clinical research, and finding the right people to collaborate with. 

Adeera Levine discusses her work in international clinical trials, current hot research topics, and research challenges in different resource settings. She also gives recommendations for those seeking to get involved in clinical trials. 

*The ISN-ACT GTF provides a monthly summary of recent compelling trials relevant to kidney disease. 

Read the ISN-ACT GTF here.  

Manjusha Yadla, Professor and Head, Nephrology Gandhi Medical College is the host of this episode and is joined by co-hosts Milagros Flores, Ivan Rodriguez from Mexico and Srikanth Bathini of India. They are interviewing Sibel Bek, from Turkey and Valerie Luyckx of Switzerland on Renal Disasters and Ethical Considerations. 

Recorded live in the ISN Kidney Studio during the WCN'23. This supplemental episode is a cross over of the Global Kidney Care Podcast and the ISN Social Media Team. The Social Media Team is a group of health professionals ensuring social media coverage of the Congress through:

• Live tweeting of scientific sessions
• Visual abstracts
• Live visual abstracts
• Daily quizzes
• Interviews
• Podcasts
• Video summaries, and more.

For more Information on the Social Media Team