International Collaborations

The ISN is an NGO in official relations with the WHO.

Hence, the WHO and the ISN will collaborate on four research and advocacy-related activities aimed at better understanding the global burden of kidney disease and addressing kidney disease in the context of global, regional and national NCD strategies.

For the period 2018-2020, the aim of the ISN-WHO collaboration will be to produce new evidence on important aspects of kidney disease and care delivery, increase knowledge and understanding, and seek to close important gaps in kidney care, including access to treatment.

The ISN develops regular editions of the Global Kidney Health Atlas, a global research project evaluating the current state of readiness, capacity and competence for delivering kidney health care.

The Atlas will provide the WHO with updated evidence on CKD and kidney disease.

The WHO will provide input on specific questions and policy gaps to be addressed in the research and will review the draft report.

The launch and dissemination of the final report will be coordinated with the WHO.

The ISN, in collaboration with leading experts and the WHO, has organized a platform to collect and provide an inventory of basic information on current human studies in CKDu. This information is shared via the ISN Observatory of CKDu to encourage new collaborations and exchanges. Reports and Position Papers are also regularly published and shared with the scientific community.

As requested, and in consultation with the WHO, the ISN will develop a technical package outlining the minimum requirements and operational considerations for use by decision-makers, health program managers, and hospitals when planning or expanding dialysis programs for patients with Kidney Failure.

The ISN supports the development of the overall policy and strategy of the WHO’s Global HEARTS initiative and contributes actively to the HEARTS technical package by regularly reviewing and updating materials.

The ISN-ANIO partnership provides education and training for health professionals who care for people with kidney disease in India. It’s a collaboration between the ISN, the American Nephrologists of Indian Origin (ANIO), the Indian Society of Nephrology and other nephrologists of the Indian Diaspora.

ISN-ANIOMr. Devanbhai R. Patel has generously donated funds to the ISN-ANIO partnership to name an endowment in memory of his father-in-law, Shri Indukaka Ipcowala.

The ISN-ANIO India Committee established the Indukaka Ipcowala Advanced Scholarship Program to enable physicians or allied healthcare personnel from India to gain specific skills through practical experience of nephrology. This includes, but is not limited to, kidney pathology, acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, kidney transplantation, and dialysis.

Important information and documents regarding the scholarship process:

A scholarship applicant must be an ISN member and must elect a Home Mentor (a senior nephrologist and ISN member) who will help the applicant to select a suitable Host Institution and Mentor (also an ISN member) to establish a strong relationship, match interests, and develop a training plan. Alternatively, the ISN headquarters can be contacted to help locate a suitable Host Institution and Mentor.

An application form must be completed to initiate the selection process. To facilitate the application process, all forms and reports must be sent to the ISN-ANIO Programs Coordinator in Word, Excel, or PDF format. Applications completed by hand will not be taken into consideration.

Applicants are notified of the status of their application approximately three months after the application deadline.

On the completion of training, the trainee and Host Mentor are required to submit an ‘End of Training Report.’ Once the ISN has received all documents, the trainee will be issued a certificate and be referred to as an ISN-ANIO Scholar.

Are you interested in the ISN-ANIO Scholarship Program but are not yet an ISN member? Learn about our membership packages and join the ISN community today!

I would recommend this program to others as it helps in acquiring new skills which can be used in our native country to improve diagnosis of renal diseases and patient care.

Pallav Gupta, 2017 ISN-ANIO Scholar

The ISN-ANIO partnership supports ISN-ANIO Fellows, young Indian nephrologists selected through the ISN Fellowship Program for a period of training overseas.

Review the Fellowship Guidelines. If you satisfy all criteria, you can register and create your application.

Annual deadlines for submission: May and October 1.

Applicants for an ISN-ANIO Sponsored Fellowship must be ISN members to qualify. Join the ISN global community today and benefit from grants like these and much more!

The ISN-ANIO Clinical Nephropathology Certificate (CNC) Program consists of year-long, online educational programs in basic and advanced nephropathology courses.
Launched in 2013 and 2019 respectively, the successful CNC Basic and Advanced Courses feature live webinars, pre-recorded lectures available on-demand, quizzes, and exams.
Learn more about the CNC Program and how to apply here.

ISN and the Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology (APSN) have joined forces and built on their common expertise – bridging the gaps that exist in providing valuable care for APSNkidney disease patients across Asia Pacific, including much of East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

Each year, they co-fund several programs to increase capacity in this region.

fellwoshipISN-APSN fellowships offer physicians from disadvantaged parts of the Asia Pacific the chance to train in centers of excellence.

I will do my best to develop nephrology in my country.’

“I look for the support of a more experienced mentor and I can find that through the ISN Fellowship program,”
Nergui Mandkhai, Nephrology Department at the Second General Hospital in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), hosted by the Peking University First Hospital, China.

‘We plan to establish a center of excellence in interventional nephrology.’

“In Pakistan, we lack specialized centers to train fellows in the field of interventional nephrology,”
Riaz Muhammad Mohsin, Fatima Memorial Hospital (Pakistan), hosted by the Peking University First Hospital, China.

src apsn resizedWith input from APSN, ISN matches institutions in low- and middle-income countries with centers of excellence, guiding and lending vital educational support to teams of doctors across Asia Pacific.

Offering a sustainable and competitive training scheme, the program prides itself on creating self-sufficient teams of experts. Graduated centers can use their new experience and knowledge and their cultural and linguistic know-how to train staff at other centers in their region, helping them set up vital treatment or care services.

‘We are the biggest kidney transplantation and peritoneal dialysis center in Vietnam.’

Westmead Hospital (Australia) supported Cho Ray Hospital (Vietnam) in becoming a renal center of excellence. The center deals with many difficult referral cases from different hospitals from southern Vietnam and is considered as the most effective Organ Allocation Unit.

It is proud to achieve 60% patient remission rates thanks to a strong collaboration between the nephrology, pathology and HD departments.

C.jayusamana SriLanka Uni photoEach year, ISN and APSN co-fund up to two specially-selected research study projects in low- and middle-income countries. These focus on acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, screening and intervention as well as specific local needs.

Between 2014 and 2018, it has poured 47,000 USD into the upcoming and ongoing studies:

  • 2018: Nepal (Dharan) – CKD & TBC in Nepal, led by Ananda Chapagain
  • 2017: Sri Lanka (Saliyapura) – Screening of CINAC among adolescents, led by Channa Jayasumana
  • 2015: Thailand (Bangkok) – AKI epidemiology in Southeast Asia, led by Nattachai Srisawat
  • 2014: China (Beijing) – The incidence and mortality of acute kidney
    injury in China: A nationwide multi-center retrospective survey, led by Li Yang
  • 2014: India (Pondicherry) – Comparison of clinical characteristics etiology and the clinical outcomes between the patients’ community acquired and hospital acquired AKI, led by Sreejith Parameswaran.

essential teachingBy assigning international faculty to share specific hands-on skills at regional courses and give lecture at local meetings, ISN and APSN support essential teaching and training across medical communities.

This partnership co-founded the 11th International Congress of the International Society for Hemodialysis and organized by The Nephrology Society of Thailand.

Thailand’s Minister of Public opened the meeting to some one thousand guests. Lectures focused on hemodialysis, vascular access, CKD-MBD, infection, cardiovascular complications, and renal replacement therapy.

pilot programsAPSN lends its support to Nepal’s pilot training center, helping local doctors provide better services to detect the signs of acute kidney injury in patients affected by the disease. Based on the results of the 0by25 pilot feasibility study, the Kidney Care Network implements sustainable and integrated kidney care services in low-resource settings.

Pilot training sites are now located in Bolivia, Brazil, Malawi, South Africa and Nepal.