ASN Kidney Week begins October 25 in San Diego, California. As the largest nephrology meeting in the world, ASN Kidney Week offers an overwhelming amount of content on a wide variety of subjects. For attendees interested in innovations in clinical trials and developing new therapies for people living with kidney diseases, there are a few must see sessions whose speakers are members of the Kidney Health Initiative (KHI) .

KHI is a public-private partnership between the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) connecting, collaborating, and innovating within the kidney community. KHI focuses on reducing barriers to innovation in biomarker development, clinical trial infrastructure, clinical trial endpoints, patient involvement, and government collaboration.  

This year's meeting includes many sessions that fit within that mission and connect to KHI's larger work in the kidney community. KHI's cornerstone session is titled: KHI: Creating a Substrate for Change on Thursday, October 25 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the San Diego Convention Center Room 9. This session is an excellent introduction to the work of KHI and highlights several new project outputs:

• Stuart Goldstein, MD, will speak on innovations in drug development for children with chronic kidney disease and will announce new resources for planning and coordinating pediatric studies.
• Steven R. Ash, MD, will expand on his workgroup’s findings on improving understanding of the regulatory requirements for marketing, promoting device iteration, and innovating hemodiafiltration and catheters devices.
• Patrick Nachman, MD, will discuss the advancements made in clinical trial endpoints for IgA Nephropathy.
• John Lieske, MD, will share on leveraging multidisciplinary partnerships to identify appropriate endpoints for Hyperoxaluria.
   

The Technology Roadmap for Innovative Approaches to Innovations in Renal Replacement Therapy will be highlighted in a session Thursday afternoon from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in San Diego Convention Center, Room 26A focusing on innovative patient-centered therapies. This technical document is a KHI signature initiative intended to increase interest, investment, and innovation in providing patients with alternatives to dialysis.  The session will include an exciting update on this project from Joseph V. Bonventre, MD, PhD who led the multidisciplinary team that developed the roadmap.

KHI understands the importance of the patient voice. Increasingly, patients and care partners are attending ASN Kidney Week to hear about the latest research advances and receive hope for better treatment options. The Celeste Castillo Lee Memorial Lectureship is unique among scientific meetings and provides a platform to put patients at the center. David White, Chair of the KHI Patient and Family Partnership Council will deliver the Celeste Castillo Lee Memorial Lectureship at Friday, October 26 at 4:30 p.m. in San Diego Convention Center, Room 9. Mr. White will be followed by speakers addressing how to integrate the patient voice in precision medicine initiatives, clinical trials, and new fluid management devices.

Learn more about these and other sessions at ASN Kidney Week 2018 and add them to your calendar by downloading the ASN Kidney Week App or visiting the ASN Kidney Week website.