Dear ASN members:
To keep you informed about the core missions of the ASN, I want to follow up my January message that focused on publications with a brief review of the educational activities of our Society. Because Dr. Robert Narins, our Director of Postgraduate Education, and his PGE Committee have been developing and sustaining these programs since 1994, it is my pleasure to have him share in this communication. Dr. Narins has recently agreed to periodically write a “PGE Update” which will keep the membership “up to speed” with more detailed discussions of this important and rapidly evolving area.
The educational portfolio of the Society is continuing to expand from the base of its already existing and highly successful educational efforts. These programs include the Annual Board Review Course & Update, which continues to attract approximately 400 participants each year who consistently give it extremely high marks for content and faculty performance. Next summer's course (August 27 - September 2, 2005 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco ), marks its tenth anniversary ! Since 1996, generations of nephrologists have used this program to prepare for their certification and, increasingly, for their recertification examinations. An expanding number of more seasoned ASN members are also using this intensive, week long, “dawn-to-dusk” program as a review and update for nephrology and related topics. A special celebratory program will mark this year's “Renal Minifellowship!” In addition to a special dinner lecture, the commemorative t-shirt will fast become a collector's item! We are delighted that Dr. Lynda Szczech has agreed to become one of our three newly created Assistant PGE Director positions and will assist in development of the 2005 Board Review Course. Dr. Szczech, a member of the Renal Division at Duke University, has expressed great interest in medical education and distinguished herself as an outstanding teacher and scholar.
Educational activities during Renal Week that are also developed by the PGE Director and his PGE Committee include the 10 Two-Day PGE courses (presented during the first two days of Renal Week), the 26 Clinical Nephrology Conferences and the 20 breakfast, luncheon and dinner symposia. These courses, conferences and symposia have proven to be enormously popular with Renal Week attendees, a testament to the quality of program content and the quality of our participating faculty. We are pleased to announce that Dr. Paul Kimmel, Director of Nephrology at George Washington University, has accepted the position as the second Assistant PGE Director for Renal Week. Dr. Kimmel will work with Dr. Narins on various aspects of the Renal Week program. He has served with distinction on the PGE Committee and has been involved in the organization of various successful courses.
Renal Week Highlights are 1 ½ day programs presented on weekends in January and February that critically review, summarize and put into perspective information presented during the preceding (October – November) Renal Week Meeting. This intensive review and distillate of Renal Week targets members who could not attend the Annual Meeting and those who were there but could not get to hear everything that they wanted. An internationally renowned faculty integrates this new information with the body of existing data and tells you what they think is “hot,” what's “right” and what's “not as good as it sounds!” These weekend programs, reviewing the 2004 Saint Louis Renal Week meeting, are being presented in New York (January 29 – 30), Los Angeles (January 8 – 9), Dallas (January 22 – 23), Washington, D.C. (February 5 - 6), Chicago (February 12 – 13) and Seattle (February 26 – 27). Check the ASN website for details. Breakfast, lunch and dinner educational programs supplement these reviews. These programs have been very well received.
While a number of new initiatives are under consideration, one we expect to launch in the next 12 months is the “ASN Grand Rounds” program. The PGE Director will arrange with academic centers throughout the US , Canada , Mexico and Central Americas to present renal grand rounds programs on key selected topics. The Society will film the programs at each institution, capturing the spontaneity of the “give-and-take,” edit them and then make them available to the membership as a CD and on-line. These programs will cover important clinical issues and will make use of those centers whose expertise is closely matched to the topic. This educational effort will, of course, be useful to individual nephrolgists, groups of practitioners and to academic programs who may choose to incorporate these “RGR's” as supplements to their own teaching programs. As more details become available, we'll pass them on to you . We're pleased that Dr. Stanley Goldfarb has agreed to become the third Assistant PGE Director who will work closely with Dr. Narins on this project. Dr. Goldfarb is a Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Education at the University of Pennsylvania . He also served on education projects with the American Board of Internal Medicine and with the American College of Physicians.
Finally, we hope that the membership realizes that the ASN Council and the PGE Director have placed great emphasis on ensuring that all sponsored activities during Renal Week, the Board Review Course, the Renal Week Highlights Meetings and all our publications, are strictly adherent to ACCME, ACP, AMA and PHARMA guidelines (New Engl J Med. 351:1891, 2004). We maintain total responsibility for ensuring that the content, the faculty, and the materials generated by these programs and publications remain free from all commercial bias. All speakers, moderators and editors fully understand that all programs must be balanced and uninfluenced by any mercantile interests. All such programs and publications are continually monitored by the ASN Council, PGE Committee and by you, the membership, by filling out questionnaires at each meeting. Our colleagues in industry have been and will continue to be very cooperative in helping us attain these mutually desirable goals.
I noted in my initial vision statement that the maintenance of excellent educational programs in the Society is one of our highest priorities. We envision the ASN as the primary vehicle for Continuing Medical Education for our Members, both in the areas of clinical practice and scientific developments. In this regard, we are always open to our member's suggestions as to how we might better fulfill this mission.
Sincerely yours,
 |
 |
Tomas Berl, MD
President
American Society of Nephrology |
Robert Narins, MD
Director, Postgraduate Education
American Society of Nephrology |
If you couldn't attend Renal Week or if you missed key talks, join us for this year's Regional Meetings: Highlights of '04 Renal Week in DC, Chicago, and Seattle. At these 1 1/2 day meetings expert faculty will summarize, critique, and put into perspective key presentations from the October 2004 Renal Week in St. Louis. These "Renal Week Highlights" programs are perfect not only for those of you who couldn't attend Renal Week but also for those October attendees who missed several key presentations. The Regional Meetings will cover the following major areas of nephrology: Parenchymal Diseases, Transplantation, Hypertension, ESRD, Disorders of Bone and Mineral Metabolism, and Clinical Nephrology. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner educational programs will be included at all six cities.
Visit the ASN website to learn more about Regional Meetings 2005 ("Renal Week Revisited") or register now!
3. Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credits
New this year– the ASN has launched an online transcript tool so participants in our continuing medical education activities will have access to their awarded category 1 credits at their convenience. All participants will be able to view and print reports by logging into our website with their User ID (ASN Identification Number) and their last name. Please click here to access your online transcript and continue to check the ASN website for updates.
The ASN wishes to thank its members, once again, for their continued participation in helping to select this year's newest council member, Sharon Anderson, MD of Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Dr. Anderson serves as Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs, Department of Medicine; Chief of the Nephrology Section at the Portland VA Medical Center; and Program Director for the OHSU/VAMC Nephrology Fellowship Program. She obtained her medical degree from Louisiana State University Medical Center, completed her residency at OHSU, and two fellowships in Nephrology and Nephrology Research at Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, respectively. Dr. Anderson has volunteered on a number of ASN committees, including ASN's Abstract Selection Committee; Chronic Kidney Disease Advisory Group; Training Program Directors Committee; and JASN's Editorial Board. Welcome aboard, Dr. Anderson!
5. ASN Announces Editor-in-Chief of New Clinical Journal
Earlier this week, the ASN officially announced the appointment of Dr. William M. Bennett as the new Editor-in-Chief of the Society's new Clinical Journal. Dr. Bennett has a distinguished career both as an academician and as a clinical practitioner. He spent most of his academic career at the Oregon Health Sciences University, where he was the Head of the Division of Nephrology for 16 years. He has had a very productive investigative career that addressed a broad range of subjects, with emphasis on nephrotoxicity of drugs, cystic renal disease, renal transplantation and ethical issues that confront the academic and practicing nephrologists, among others. He remained clinically active throughout his tenure at the Oregon Health Sciences University and developed a new community based transplant program thereafter. Dr Bennett is highly respected in the nephrology community and is recognized worldwide for his extraordinary contributions to our discipline.
Dr. Bennett will work closely with the editors of JASN, Dr. William Couser, and NephSAP, Dr. Richard Glassock, in order to provide a full range of complementary publications to Society members. We hope to publish the first issue of the journal in early 2006. Click here to read the official announcement.
• ASN's Basic Science Travel Award Program (Due March 1, 2005)
• ASN-ASP Junior Development Grant in Geriatric Nephrology (Due March 11, 2005)
• ASN-AST John Merrill Grant in Transplantation (Due March 11, 2005)
• Carl W. Gottschalk Research Scholar Grant (Due March 11, 2005)
• KUFA-ASN Research Grant (Due March 11, 2005) New!
• Halpin Foundation-ASN Research Grant (Due March 11, 2005) New!
• New Directions Grant for Established Investigators (Due March 11, 2005)
• Student Scholar Grant (Due February 11, 2005)
• M. James Scherbenske Grant (Due March 15, 2005, June 15, 2005, or November 15, 2005)
7. 2005 NIH Director's Pioneer Award
The National Institutes of Health announces the 2005 NIH Director's Pioneer Award, a key component of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. The award supports scientists of exceptional creativity who propose pioneering approaches to major challenges in biomedical research.
The program is open to scientists at all career levels who are currently engaged in any field of research, interested in exploring biomedically relevant topics, and willing to commit the major portion of their effort to Pioneer Award research. Women, members of groups that are underrepresented in
biomedical research and individuals
in the early to middle stages of their careers are especially encouraged to nominate themselves. Awardees must be U.S. citizens, non-citizen nationals, or permanent residents. In September 2005, NIH expects to make 5 to 10 new Pioneer Awards of up to $500,000 in direct costs per year for 5 years.
The streamlined self-nomination process includes a 3- to 5-page essay, a biographical sketch, a list of current research support, and the names of 3 references. Submit nominations on the Pioneer Award website, http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/pioneer, between March 1- April 1, 2005. For more information, visit the Pioneer Award website or e-mail questions to pioneer@nih.gov.
8. 2005 Norman S. Coplon Extramural Grants
Satellite Research awards extramural grants to individuals and institutions engaged in promising kidney disease research in the United States and Canada.
Proposals are reviewed and approved by the Satellite Research Scientific Advisory Board. Collaborative or multi-institutional proposals are also encouraged. Priority will be given to applications from investigators in the early stages of their investigative careers (Associate Professor or below), and a maximum of one grant will be awarded to a given institution during each funding cycle. Fellows should not apply unless they can provide an assurance from their institutions that they will be given a faculty appointment at the end of their fellowship.
A strong preference will be given to clinical topics in choosing the awards. Proposals for 2005 should be submitted by February 28, 2005.
If you need additional information after reviewing the guidelines at http://www.satellitehealth.com/research/extramural_grants.asp, please contact Jenny Thomas at (650) 404-3600 or by email at thomasj@satellitehealth.com.
