This session will discuss the rising demand for kidney care, key causes of workforce gaps, and the impact on patient outcomes. It would also highlight practical solutions to strengthen the nephrology nursing workforce.

Moderator: Ana Figueiredo

Speakers:

Rachael Walker

Marques Shek Nam Ng

Ginger Chu

Laura Lunardi

This ISN i3C podcast brings together leading ISN experts to unpack a new paper tackling one of nephrology’s biggest mysteries: chronic kidney disease of unknown origin (CKDu). The discussion explores why identifying the causes of CKDu has been so challenging—highlighting gaps in terminology, study design, and data collection—while questioning whether current research approaches are asking the right questions. Through expert insights and debate, the podcast emphasizes the need for standardized methods, stronger global collaboration, and a shift toward translating research into prevention, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The podcast closes by looking ahead to priority research areas and how the global community can get involved in advancing solutions. Listeners will come away with a deeper, more nuanced understanding of CKDu.

Participants:

• Ben Caplin (UK), ISN i3C Working Group Chair
• Magdalena Madero (Mexico), ISN i3C Working Group Deputy Chair
• Eranga Wijewickrama (Sri Lanka)
• Shuchi Anand (United States)

Augusto Cesar Soares dos Santos Junior hosts the latest episode of the Global Kideny Care podcast, and this special episode is part of the offerings for NephMadness 2026. Augusto is joined by Ana Catalina Alvarez Elias: Renal Research Institute, Lili Chan: Mount Sinai, Neil Reza Evans: UC Davis Health, and Kuang-Yu Jen: UC Davis Health, where they discuss the emerging role of Artificial Intelligence in nephrology. AI stands out as a truly transformative force and is reshaping how diseases are diagnosed, how nephrologists interpret complex data, and understand patients.

World Kidney Day (WKD) is observed annually on the second Thursday of March and in 2026 falls on March 12, under the theme “Kidney Health for All: Caring for People, Protecting the Planet”. Read more about WKD 2026 here.

In this episode, WKD Joint Steering Committee member Dr. Manjusha Yadla is joined by fellow committee members Dr. Natarajan Gopalakrishnan and Bill Wang to examine the growing connection between kidney health, climate change, and planetary well-being. The discussion explores climate change as an emerging risk factor for kidney disease and highlights the importance of prevention through education, awareness, and sustainable healthcare practices, underscoring the shared responsibility of clinicians, patients, and policymakers to protect kidney health, promote environmentally responsible care, and translate public-health frameworks into meaningful, long-term global action.

The International Society of Nephrology Education Working Group has undertaken the development of a comprehensive online program to advance understanding and education in this rapidly evolving field. The new curriculum ‘Genetics in Kidney Disease’ led by Drs. Becky Ma and Anuja Java, features a series of 11 recorded lectures covering key topics in nephrogenetics, together with roundtable-style panel discussions featuring leading experts on each topic for open conversations and deeper insights.

This first episode of season six of the Global Kidney Care Podcast is a sneak peek at the first roundtable discussion on Genetics for the Nephrologist (monogenic, polygenic; testing methodology) with Drs. Amali Mallawaarachchi, Ali Gharavi, and Christie Thomas. To continue your education in Genetics in Kidney Disease, view the rest of the first module and the full curriculum here.

Jay L. Koyner, MD, is a Professor of Medicine in the Section of Nephrology at the University of Chicago where he also serves as the Medical Director of the Inpatient Dialysis Unit, Director of ICU Nephrology and the Associate Program Director of the Nephrology-Critical Care Fellowship. He hosted by Dr. Sola Aoun Bahous, Dean and Professor of the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology at the Lebanese American University. Sola is also the Chair-Elect of the ISN Education Working Group. In this episode, Jay and Sola discuss the Acute Kidney Injury and the impact of Artificial Intelligence on detection. They will discuss Jay’s research in multi-modal deep learning models and his building of practical AKI Alerts, and how these innovations could change kidney care worldwide.

Clinical trial design in nephrology is evolving. In this episode, leading experts explore why a paradigm shift is needed from traditional biomarkers to patient-centered outcomes and practical strategies for advancing trial implementation. This conversation draws on insights from the ISN Consensus Meeting on Changing Paradigms of Studies in CKD (Vancouver, Nov 22-23, 2024) where clinicians, trialists, patient partners, regulators and industry scientists came together to rethink trial endpoints, outcomes and designs. Together, they discuss how reimagining kidney trials can generate more relevant, equitable, and actionable evidence for better kidney care worldwide.

Participants

Adeera Levin
Professor of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Canada, and Past-President of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN). Dr. Levin is a global leader in kidney health research, with extensive experience in chronic kidney disease (CKD) management, clinical trials, and international health system strengthening.

Jennifer Lees
Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at the University of Glasgow, UK. Dr. Lees’ research focuses on improving patient outcomes in kidney disease through better trial design, biomarker evaluation, and translational approaches linking research to clinical care.

Kevin Weinfurt
Professor and Vice Chair of Faculty, Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, USA. Dr. Weinfurt is a behavioural scientist specializing in patient-reported outcomes (PROMs), ethical aspects of research participation, and improving the relevance of clinical trials to patients lived experiences.

Hiddo J. Lambers Heerspink
Professor of Clinical Trials and Personalized Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands. Dr. Heerspink’s work bridges pharmacology, nephrology, and precision medicine, focusing on optimizing kidney and cardiovascular outcomes through innovative clinical trial design and biomarker discovery.

To read more, explore the related paper Changing Paradigms of Studies in Kidney Diseases published in Kidney International.

In the latest Episode of the Global Kidney Care podcast Augusto Cesar Soares dos Santos Junior interviews Rolando Claure-Del Granado, a Clinical Research Investigator at the Biomedical Research Institute (IIBISMED) at Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Simon (Cochabamba, Bolivia) and a visiting professor of the UNESP - São Paulo State University (Brazil).

This podcast is part of an ongoing series of resources for the ISN Academy dedicated to the topic of AI and Nephrology. Augusto and Rolando discuss how AI is changing the outlook for patients with AKI and how it can be utilized by nephrologists to treat those with AKI.