WCN'23: Special Sessions

Dr Marina Wainstein is a clinical nephrologist based in Brisbane, Australia and is currently completing a PhD in digital health and acute kidney injury. She is the Chair of the ISN's Young Nephrologist's Committee and the appointed ISN delegate to the WHO Youth Council. She has a background in biomedical and healthcare ethics and a particular interest in aspects of informed consent for dialysis as well as issues of health inequities in the Australian Indigenous population.

Dr. Kornchanok Vareesangthip is an Assistant Professor in Nephrology and Consultant Renal Physician in the Renal Division, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. She received the board of Internal Medicine and Board of Nephrology from Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. She also had an experienced of Clinical Research Fellowship at Royal Free Hospital, University College London. Currently she is the Chair of Young Nephrologist Committee in The Asia-Pacific Society Nephrology (APSN-YNC). Her other current international positions are member of the Executive Committee and Continuing Medical Education (CME) Committee, The Asia-Pacific Society Nephrology. She also has national positions including the Research Committee, The Royal College of Physicians of Thailand, also Thailand Renal Replacement Therapy Committee and Academic Committee, The Nephrology Society of Thailand. She has special interests are acute kidney injury, end stage renal disease and dialysis.

Petrova Anna  - M.D., Ph.D., Assistant, Department of Propedeutics of Internal Medicine №2 of the National Medical University.Member of the YNC ISN since 2021.Education:2003-2006 - Kyiv Medical College №. 3. Nursing specialty, qualified as a nurse. Graduated with honors2006- 2012 - National Medical University named after O.O. Bogomolets Specialty - medical business, educational and qualification level - specialist, qualification - doctor.2012-2014 - Internship in the specialty of general practitioner - family doctor, Kyiv2014-2016 - Clinical residency at the Department of Propaedeutics of Internal Medicine № 2 of the National Medical University named after O.O. Bogomolets2016-2020 - Postgraduate studies at the Department of Propedeutics of Internal Medicine № 2 of the National Medical University named after O.O. Bogomolets2020 defended Ph.D thesis and received the scientific title of Ph.D. Medical practice since 2012.

Dr Ewa Pawlowicz-Szlarska is a clinical nephrologist based in Lodz, Poland and teaching assistant at the Medical University of Lodz. She is the Chair of Young Nephrologists’ Club of the Polish Society of Nephrology and the Board Member of Young Nephrologists’ Platform of the ERA. Her scientific interests focus mostly on burnout among nephrologists, epidemiology of kidney diseases, inequities in healthcare and modern medical education.

Head of the division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Saint George Hospital University Medical Center in Beirut, Lebanon and assistant professor of clinical medicine at the faculty of medicine and medical sciences of the University of Balamand in Lebanon. Deputy chair of the Young Nephrologists Committee of the Internal Society of Nephrology  (ISN) and a member of the 2021 cohort of the Emerging Leaders Program of the ISN.Clinical and research interests include Global Kidney Health, Onco-Nephrology, Hypertension and Peritoneal dialysis.

Teaching assistant of Nephrology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Kinshasa in Democratic republic of Congo. Chief Assistant of Haemodialysis Unit at Kinshasa Hospital University. Past ISN Fellowship. Member of the Young Nephrologists Committee (YNC) of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), Member of the ISN Africa Regional. Clinical and research interests include Acute Kidney injury-COVID-19, CKD and Dialysis.

A/Prof Franca Gois is a young and dedicated Nephrologist, whose medical training spans 3 continents, giving him a diversity of experience in both developed and developing health systems. He attended medical school in Heidelberg, Germany and subsequently carried out Internal Medicine, Intensive Care and Nephrology training in Brazil. He completed his PhD and post-doc at the University of Sao Paulo. He moved to Australia in 2017 and was awarded with the Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2018. He has received many competitive research grants, and over the last years, he has attracted >$372,000 in research funding for investigator-initiated projects. He has published over 49 peer-reviewed papers in high-tier journals, book chapters and abstracts in conference proceedings. He is highly involved with the International scientific community as a member and Fellow of various societies and editor of two medical journals.

Dr. Jia Chen is Assistant Chief of the Department of Nephrology at Daping Hospital, Army Medical University, in Chongqing, China. Her major research directions are for the role and mechanism of stress induced premature senescence of renal intrinsic cells in kidney diseases, and the pathogenesis and prevention of acute and chronic kidney diseases. Dr. Chen obtained/participated in four grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and published more than 10 papers in KI, CKJ, AJP-RP and other professional journals. She was awarded the first prize of provincial Award for progress in Science and Technology, and won the "Travel grants" and "Best Abstract" of the 56th ERA-EDTA Congress 2019.

Dana Kim is an Australian Nephrologist and completed her clinical training in 2022. She has an interest in chronic kidney disease and is currently undertaking a PhD through the University of Sydney. She is also a Research Associate at the George Institute for Global Health.

Ana Figueiredo, RN, ENB 136, MSc, PhD is a Professor at, School of Nursing  at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Ms Figueiredo has been working with renal patients since 1985, with both hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis; her primary focus on PD research is to improve outcomes for PD patients. She has numerous publications, including Guidelines for PD training for the International Society for PD (ISPD). She served on the ISPD Council from 2001-2006, chaired the Nurse Liaison Committee of ISPD from 1998-2001 and now is part of the committee and received the Barbara Prowant Lifetime Achievement Award in the Field of Nephrology in 2014. She is Chair of Kidney Health Professionals Working Group of ISN. Still works in the fields and is a speaker and consultant on PD and CQI projects around the world.

Master of Nursing Science (Nursing Administration), Faculty of Nursing Chiang Mai University 2002Bachelor degree of Nursing Faculty of Nursing Chiang Mai University 1984Certificate of Special Nephrology Nurse. Thai Nephrology Association 1996Certificate of Nursing Practitioner in Renal Replacement Therapy (Hemodialysis ) Thai NursingCouncil 20092018-Present (2023) President of The Nephrology Nurses Associationof Thailand, Thailand2018-2020 Head of Medical Nursing SectionMaharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, Chiang Mai, Thailand2015-2018 Supervisor of Intensive Care Unit and Dialysis UnitMaharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, Chiang Mai, Thailand1989-2015 Head Nurse of Acute Dialysis Unit Maharach Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital,Chiang Mai, Thailand1984-1989 Registered Nurse, Intensive Care Unit at Maharach Nakorn Chiang MaiHospital, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Dr Marques Ng is a nurse researcher with strong interest in nephrology care and mixed methods research. He received his PhD in Nursing at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at University of California, San Francisco in 2018/19. He is currently working at The Nethersole School of Nursing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His previous research focuses on symptom clusters and their impacts on patients receiving dialysis therapy. He has shared his findings in international journals and during KDIGO Controversies Conference. With the support of local and international research grants, his recent works examine the relationship between biopsychosocial symptoms and health inequities in patients with noncommunicable diseases, especially chronic kidney disease.

She is current Deputy Chair of ISN North & East Asia Regional Board, Deputy Chair of ISN Education Working Group. Immediate Past President of International Society of Renal Nutrition and Metabolism (ISRNM), Council member of ISPD, Previous Exe Committee member of KDIGO. Also Committee Member of ISN-ACT, Exe Committee Member of SONG. She has served as a workgroup member of international clinical practice guidelines (CPG) including ISPD Prescribing High Quality Goal-Directed PD Guidelines 2020, ISPD-GREX Practice Recommendations on Physical Activity and Exercise in PD 2021 and KDOQI Nutrition Guidelines 2020 and KDIGO anemia guidelines in CKD 2022. She serves on the editorial board of JASN, Kidney Int, CJASN, NDT (theme Editor), Am J Nephrol, Nephron, etc. She has received ISPD John Maher Award 2006 and NKF Joel D. Kopple Award 2018 and Thomas Addis Award, a lifetime award of the ISRNM in Dec 2022. She has published >200 papers, 15 book chapters, delivered >150 invited lectures in international meetings. She is recognized for her research in cardiovascular, metabolic and nutrition complications in CKD. She works in clinical trials.

João Viana is Associate Professor at the University of Maia (Portugal), where he is Vice-Rector, Director of the Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD) and course coordinator of the PhD program in Sports Sciences. He is also Vice-Director of the CIDESD national consortium.His research focuses on exploring the role of exercise in chronic kidney disease, particularly investigating its effects on immune function, inflammation, muscle and bone metabolism as well as evaluating the clinical implementation of exercise interventions for dialysis patients.João serves as board member of the Global Renal Exercise Network, the Portuguese Association of Exercise Physiologists and the Portuguese Association of Kidney Disease Rehabilitation, as well as member of the scientific committee of the National Program for the Promotion of Physical Activity.

Paul Bennett is a Professor and Deputy Head of School (Research) at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. Paul's research and teaching focusses on strategies to improve the quality of life of people living with kidney disease.

I graduated in Bachelor degree in science (nursing and midwifery) and master degree of nursing science (medical and surgical nursing) from Faculty of Nursing, Chiang Mai University. I received Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) certificate from Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2004. I have more than 25 years of experience in taking care of CKD, acute hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patient. I work as a committee and lecturer in Program of Nursing Specialty in Renal Replacement Therapy Nurse Practitioner (hemodialysis) and Program of Nursing Specialty in Renal Replacement Therapy Nurse Practitioner (peritoneal dialysis) from 2010- present. I am an executive committee of The Nephrology Nurses Association of Thailand from 2020- present. My position is a head nurse of acute dialysis unit, Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University.

Nursing Degree.. Nurse in nephrology and haemodialysis unit in Hospital Parc Taulí Sabadell. Hospital Universitar, Barcelona and  Member of its Vascular Access Programme. Haemodialysis consultant in European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association (EDTNA/ERCA). Council of the Vascular Access Society (VAS). Member and collaborator of the Spanish Multidisciplinary Group on Vascular Access (GEMAV), Spanish Society of Nephrology Nursing (SEDEN)  and Catalan Association of Nephrology Nursing (ACIN).Since many years dedicated to vascular access in the field of care, teaching and research. Author and collaborator of several papers published highlighting the  edition of the book “Handbook on ultrasound for vascular access examination. From the specialist to the nurse. Author and collaborator of several national and international lectures about haemodialysis and vascular access. Member of the organizing committee of several national and international congresses and symposia. Promoter, coordinator and teacher in numerous courses and workshops about vascular access and ultrasound.

Senior Clinical Nurse Specialist, Kings College Hospital LondonA highly experienced Renal Nurse with 10 years experience of Percutaneous PD access procedures and 16 year's management of a PD service.Winner of the Heal Award for Pioneering in Health 2010: Presented for being the First Nurse in the U.K. to independently insert PD catheters under LA. The British Renal Society Jane MacDonald BRS Leadership Lecture Award 2015

Pierre Ronco, MD, PhD, is Professor of Nephrology at Sorbonne Université. He has devoted his career to the care of patients with glomerular disease and the identification of pathophysiological mechanisms and novel therapeutic strategy, particularly in the field of membranous nephropathy. He is an author of > 500 research publications (New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Science, Nature Com.), and 30 chapters.He received the Jean Hamburger award (ISN), the prize for outstanding basic research (ERA) and an ERC advanced grant ; he is an ERA distinguished fellow, Honorary Member of the Japanese Society of Nephrology, and Doctor Honoris Causa of the UC Louvain University. He is a member of the Academia Europeae, the French Academy of Medicine and the Royal Academy of Medicine (Belgium).He served as President of the Francophone Society of Nephrology, President of the ERA congress in Paris in 2012 and 2022. He has been serving ISN for >30 years as Councilor, Program Chair of 4 WCNs (Madrid 1995, Milan 2009, Cape Town 2015, Mexico City 2017) and Associate Editor of Kidney International. He is currently Editor in Chief since 2018.

Amélie Bernier-Jean is a nephrologist and early career clinician-scientist at the Hôpital Sacré-Coeur affiliated with the University of Montreal. She has completed a Masters degree in clinical epidemiology and a PhD with the Sydney School of Public Health. Her research focuses on lifestyle changes, including diet and physical activity, for people with chronic kidney disease. She is the 2021-2023 ISN-KI Clinical Editorial Fellow.

Dr. Letizia De Chiara is postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Paola Romagnani at the University of Florence, Italy. She obtained her PhD at the Molecular Biotechnology Center of Turin, Italy where she investigated the utility of novel stem cell therapies for the treatment of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) and prevention of progression to Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Following the completion of her PhD studies, she moved to University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland and then she joined the Weill Cornell Medical College of New York, USA to pursue her studies on stem cell plasticity and kidney injury. In 2019, she was awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Reintegration Fellowship to return to Italy. Since then, her research has focused on investigating the link between AKI and CKD development. Recently, she was awarded a L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science Award for her studies on developing new prognostic markers to stratify patients at risk of progressing toward CKD following AKI. She is currently part of the Kidney International editorial board as a KI ISN fellow and she is part of the second cohort of the ISN emerging leaders

Dr. Sho Hasegawa is an assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, working on unraveling the mechanism of kidney disease progression. He obtained his MD from the University of Tokyo in 2012. After working as a physician for five years, he received scientific training in the laboratory of Prof. Masaomi Nangaku and obtained his PhD from the University of Tokyo in 2020, where he established a method of whole-kidney 3D imaging and visualized renal sympathetic denervation after ischemia/reperfusion injury (Kidney Int 2019, selected as ISN-KI Early Career Researcher Award). He also studied the effects of HIF stabilizers on renal energy metabolism in the course of diabetic kidney disease (Kidney Int 2020) and the role of macrophage sympathetic signaling in acute kidney injury (JASN 2021). His current research focuses on organelle stress and crosstalk in kidney diseases (Kidney360 2020). He is currently serving as the 2021-2023 ISN-KI Basic Science Editorial Fellow.

Dr. Radhakrishnan is Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. After completing initial medical training in India, and the UK, he completed nephrology fellowships at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Columbia-University Medical Center in New York. He is the Clinical Chief of the Nephrology Division at the New York Presbyterian Hospital. His clinical and research interests are the therapy of glomerular diseases. He is an associate editor of Kidney International and founding editor of Kidney International Reports.  He has served on educational committees with the ASN and ISN and is a global education ambassador for the ISN.

Dr Anna Francis is a paediatric nephrologist and clinician researcher at Queensland Children’s Hospital, Australia.  She completed her PhD at the University of Sydney on “Long-Term Outcomes of Chronic Kidney Disease in Childhood and Adolescence”. She also has a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Sydney. In 2017, Dr Francis was awarded a Churchill Fellowship, travelling to Germany, England and Harvard to explore transition programs to adult care for young kidney transplant recipients.  In 2019 she was appointed as an Editorial Fellow to Kidney International. In 2020, Dr Francis was accepted into the inaugural International Society of Nephrology “Emerging Leaders” programme. Dr Francis became an associate editor for Kidney International Reports in 2021. Her key research interests are the life course impact of childhood CKD and optimising outcomes in paediatric kidney transplantation.

Germaine Wong is an academic transplant nephrologist at Westmead Hospital, in Sydney. She is the Director of the Western Renal Service, Western Sydney Local Health District. She is also a Principal Research Fellow at the University of Sydney. Her main areas of interest are cancer epidemiology, diagnostic test evaluations, decision and simulation modelling, and other important aspects of outcomes research in nephrology and transplantation such as utility-based quality of life measures, transplantation outcomes in young adults, cancer and cardiovascular disease after transplantation; and areas in organ donation, wait-listing and organ allocation. She has expertise in diagnostic test evaluation methodologies, biostatistics, simulation modelling, and has examined topics including the cost-effectiveness of cancer screening and other pharmaceutical interventions in patients on dialysis and with kidney transplants.

Dr Adrien Flahault, MD, PhD is a nephrologist from Nancy, France. He completed medical school and residency at the Université Paris Cité, France. After a PhD in pharmacology studying water metabolism at the Collège de France in Paris, he did a post-doctoral fellowship at the Sainte Justine University Hospital Research Center in Montréal, Québec, Canada, where he performed clinical and experimental studies to characterize the cardiovascular and renal consequences of preterm birth in neonates and in adulthood. He was then appointed assistant professor in nephrology, first at the Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou / Université Paris Cité (Paris, France), and since November 2022 at the Nancy University Hospital / Université de Lorraine (Vandoeuvre-Les-Nancy, France). He is also an editorial intern at Kidney International since 2021.

A/Prof Andrea Viecelli is an academic nephrologist at Princess Alexandra Hospital and was awarded her PhD in 2019 through the University of Queensland. As a clinical trialist of the Australasian Kidney Trials Network (AKTN) she plays a key role in designing and conducting international clinical trials in people with chronic kidney disease. As a Coordinating Committee member and Vascular Access Project Coordinator of the global SONG initiative, she is conducting clinical and qualitative research to establish standardised core outcome measures based on the shared priorities of patients, clinicians, researchers and policy makers from >100 countries to improve the relevance and reliability of kidney research to inform patient-centred care. As the recipient of a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant and a Queensland Advancing Clinical Research Fellowship she currently pursues a program of clinical research to improve patient-important outcomes in haemodialysis.

Dominique is Professor of Health Ethics and Professionalism in the School of Medicine at Deakin University. Her research focuses on ethical issues in organ and tissue donation and transplantation and in nephrology, and on professionalism in healthcare. Dominique currently represents Oceania on the Council of the international Transplantation Society and has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization and the Australian Organ and Tissue Authority. She is also a member of the joint ethics task force of ISN-ASN-ERA, Chair of the Asia Pacific Bioethics Education Network, an Associate Editor of Transplantation, and a founding member of the Doha International Academy for Organ Donation and the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group.

Dr. Benita Padilla is a nephrologist at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, the leading transplant center in the Philippines.  She has served as president of the Philippine Society of Nephrology.  She is a long-time advocate for ethical practices in transplantation and is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group and is also a member of the WHO Task Force on WHO Task Force on Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues.  Her research interests are focused on organ donation and access to care for kidney diseases.

Dept of Pediatric Nephrology,St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India

Dr. Skoberne is a consultant nephrologist working at the University Medical Centre in Ljubljana. He is the current president of the Slovenian Society of Nephrology, a member of the ERA Renal Disaster Relief Task Force and the ISN Regional Board for Central and Eastern Europe.

Dr. Locke is an abdominal transplant surgeon specializing in innovative strategies for the transplantation of incompatible organs, disparities in access to and outcomes after solid organ transplantation, and transplantation of HIV-infected end-stage patients.  Her research interests include complex statistical analysis and modeling of transplant outcomes and behavioral research focused on health disparities.  She has authored more than 170 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 20 book chapters, and is an NIH R01-funded investigator. In addition, Dr. Locke is a Deputy Editor for the American Journal of Transplantation, and is an editorial board member for Annals of Surgery. Dr. Locke is currently Professor of Surgery and the Arnold G. Diethelm MD Endowed Chair in Transplantation Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and serves as the Director of the Comprehensive Transplant Institute and Chief of the Division of Abdominal Transplantation Surgery.

Dr. Sirirat Anutrakulchai (Reungjui) is the Associate Professor of Medicine at Khon Kaen University, Thailand. She obtained the Boards of Internal Medicine and Nephrology, and PhD program in Epidemiology and Statistics from Khon Kaen University. She had research collaboration in the postdoc program at University of Florida (2005-2007).  Her main tasks are the lecturer, clinician and researcher in chronic kidney disease (CKD) issue. She is the current (2022-2014) Chair of the CKD Prevention Committee of the Nephrology Society of Thailand.

Dr. Pecoits-Filho is a Senior Research Scientist at Arbor Research Collaborative for Health in Michigan, USA and a Professor of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná in Curitiba, Brazil. He is the current (2021-23) Chair of the Education Committee of the International Society of Nephrology. As a clinician, he has broad activities in Internal Medicine and Nephrology based at the University affiliated hospitals, where he was the Chief of the Department of Internal Medicine between 2010 and 2016, the Director of the Residency program in Nephrology from 2013 to 2016. Dr. Pecoits-Filho is the Principal Investigator for the study CKDOPPS, a multinational study on practice patterns and outcomes in chronic kidney disease and act as a Scientific Leader for clinical trials in the Americas with George Clinical. Dr. Pecoits-Filho received his MD and trained in Internal Medicine and Nephrology in Curitiba, Brazil before completing a nephrology research fellowship at the University of Missouri, Columbia and a PhD from the University of Sao Paulo. He was a visiting scholar for extended periods at the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) and the George Institute (Australia), and has participated as a principal investigator, regional leader and in steering committees in multinational clinical trials. Dr. Pecoits-Filho served as a member of the Executive Committee of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) (2017-2019), the SONG Initiative (2017-present) and KDIGO (2016-2018).

Dr. Fornoni is a tenured Professor of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She is the Chief of the Katz Family Division of Nephrology and Hypertension and serves as and Director and Chair of the Peggy and Harold Katz Drug Discovery Center. Dr. Fornoni gained experience in drug development at Hoffman-La Roche in Basel, and she is the funding scientist of several start-up companies. Her research is supported by grants from the NIH industry and private foundations. She has received prestigious awards: among them, she became a member of ASCI and AAP. Through her pioneering work on insulin signaling, cholesterol metabolism, and sphingolipid-related pathways, Dr. Fornoni uncovered novel pathogenetic mechanisms and therapeutic approaches for glomerular disorders. Her internationally recognized research findings, which are now being translated into humans with novel therapeutic applications, have challenged existing paradigms and have dramatically altered the research direction in these areas.

Dr Aminu Bello, MD, PhD, FRCP, FACP, FASN. Professor/Consultant Nephrologist, Division of Nephrology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta. Dr. Bello qualified as MD in Nigeria and underwent specialist clinical training in internal medicine and nephrology in Nigeria, UK and Canada. He obtained the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP), completed his Masters with Distinction and PhD degrees in Nephrology/Epidemiology at the University of Sheffield in the UK (supervised by Prof Meguid El-Nahas). After completing his PhD, he went on to complete a post-doctoral clinical and research fellowship in nephrology at the University of Alberta, Canada (supervised by Dr Marcello Tonelli). Dr Bello is a physician-scientist with major research interests in improving outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), preventing disease progression and reducing risk of complications, development of innovative care delivery models, and quality improvement. He is a member of the Alberta Kidney Disease Network (AKDN), a successful established team of scientists, health care policy-makers, clinical leaders, educators, and knowledge translation experts that studies health services solutions to reduce the burden of CKD and other chronic diseases. He has over 180 peer-reviewed scientific publications, and has keen interests in global health initiatives to improve nephrology practice and education in the emerging nations.