Dr. Megan Urbanski (@MeganUrbanski) is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, in the Emory University School of Medicine. She received a master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania and worked for several years as a nephrology and transplant social worker prior to obtaining a PhD in Public Health with a concentration in the Social and Behavioral Sciences from Temple University. She also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in Health Services Research at Emory University. Her specific research interests ..read more

NephMadness 2024 only ended a month ago, but it’s already time to plan NephMadness 2025! Which topics would you like to see in next year’s edition of the madness? Suggestion Box, Hash Mihan. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. We’ve had great fun and success crowdsourcing topic ideas in the past: Which topics do you want to see in the #NephMadness 2024 tournament? Share your ideas!https://t.co/2sZZfIR1Uf @anna_burgner @ssfarouk @Nephro_Sparks @KidneyWars @Maximal_Change pic.twitter.com/RtYnV50gN2 — AJKD (@AJKDonline) May 14, 2023 Last year, man ..read more

AJKDBlog Interviews Editor Timothy Yau (@Maximal_Change) caught up with Kueiyu Joshua Lin to discuss his study recently published in AJKD comparing the safety and effectiveness of warfarin or rivaroxaban versus apixaban in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and non–dialysis-dependent CKD stage 4/5. Dr. Lin is an internist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Executive Director of the Mass General Brigham (MGB) Center for Integrated Healthcare Data Research. He is currently the Principal Investigator of four large NIH-funded national studies on drug safety and effectiveness in o ..read more

Dr Hania Kassem is a faculty member at the section of Nephrology at Baylor College of Medicine. She has a special interest in CKD and home dialysis. She is also very passionate about teaching and has won multiple teaching awards.   When it comes to choosing a dialysis modality, patients’ goals of care and quality of life are essential considerations. While we discuss with our patients outcomes such as hospitalization, cardiovascular disease, and mortality, we also realize that patients choosing a dialysis modality are facing a life changing event that they potentially have to live with ..read more

Editor’s Note: We asked authors of Original Investigations to provide short plain-language summaries that would briefly summarize what inspired their study, the basic approach taken, what was learned, and why it matters. We hope our readers will find this valuable in helping them keep up with the latest research in the field of nephrology. Highlights from the May 2024 issue: Development and Validation of the Rating of CKD Knowledge Among Older Adults (Know-CKD) With Kidney Failure by Susan Koch-Weser et al [FREE] From the authors: The Rating of CKD Knowledge Among Older Adults (Know-CKD ..read more

Now that we have revealed the NephMadness 2024 Champion, Team Gila Monster from the Animal House Region, we are excited to announce the winners below! from Pixabay Grand Prizes Each Grand Prize individual winner will receive a one-year online subscription to Advances in Kidney Disease and Health and Nature Reviews Nephrology. TOP OVERALL SCORE: Concord Renal Team “We enjoyed Nephmadness as a fun way to run our department education meetings for the first half of March, particularly debating and sharing experience in recently changing areas of renal medicine! We submitted a ..read more

Gabriel Cooper Gabriel Cooper received a kidney-pancreas transplant in 2021 at Cedars Sinai. He is a clinical psychotherapist in Los Angeles who works with kidney and transplant patients and specializes in anxiety, self-esteem, and relationships. He is an endurance runner and honors his deceased donor with every race. The remaining competitors, our Left and Right Kidneys: Team Gila Monster vs Team Simultaneous Pancreas-Kidney Transplantation Sidney and Franc. My transplanted kidney and pancreas. The journey through and out the other side of transplant has illuminate ..read more

Stephen Sammons Steve Sammons is a nephrology fellow at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. His academic interests include glomerulonephritis, evidence-based medicine, and medical education.   Jamie Dwyer @jamie_dwyer Jamie P. Dwyer, MD is Associate Dean for Clinical Research, Professor of Medicine, and Director of the Utah Data Coordinating Center at the University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City, Utah.  He is a clinical trialist dedicated to the design, conduct, analysis, and reporting of large multi-center clinical trials.   Sarah Gilligan Sarah Gilliga ..read more

The Championship Matchup is next (YES, we are going to make you wait all weekend for it)! Are you still alive, or has the Blue Ribbon Panel left your bracket busted? Check out the Current Standings and tweet your reactions with #Nephmadness! We proudly present: And before we begin, special thanks to Corina Teodosiu @CTeodosiu for the scoreboard graphics! Left Kidney: Team Gila Monster’s Cinderella story continues with an easy victory over Team PD First. The question remains, can anyone stop this teams poisonous defense? Gila Monster wins 6-3 Comments from the BRP: “Gila monster is hard to be ..read more

The Championship Matchup is nearing! How is your Bracket doing? How has the Blue Ribbon Panel done? Check out the Current Standings and tweet your reactions with #NephMadness! We proudly present: Current Standings | Match Results | #NephMadness  And before we begin, special thanks to Corina Teodosiu @CTeodosiu for the scoreboard graphics! Preeclampsia vs Animal House Team Preeclampsia Diagnosis was predicted to win this matchup with its strong offense but it was no match up for Team Gila Monster’s poisonous defense! Gila Monster wins 7-2 Comments from the BRP: “Hard to ch ..read more