cyberNephrology

Welcome to cyberNephrology, the National Kidney Foundation's gateway to Internet-based resources for the practice of nephrology, technology advances, and futurist vision. From this site, renal care professionals can access discussion groups, join an on-line journal club, find key talks from the NKF Clinical Meetings, help create a historical archive of nephrology, review case studies, keep abreast of new developments in the fields of nephrology, transplantation, organ donation and related interests, and share information and concerns with colleagues throughout the world.

About the cyberNephrology Project

The cyberNephrology Project, launched in 1997, takes advantage of the ever-changing and increasing resources available on the World Wide Web to facilitate the practice of nephrology to the benefit of renal patients throughout the world. An advisory board of experts in nephrology and information technology, headed by Dr. William F. Keane, guides the project and sets long-term goals.

The cyberNephrology Center is a collaboration with the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and directed by Kim Solez, M.D.

Kim Solez, M.D., Director

Dr. Solez, professor and director of experimental pathology at the University of Alberta, directs the operations of the cyberNephrology Center and has been responsible for many of its innovations. Not only does Dr. Solez have a long history with the National Kidney Foundation but he has been a pioneer and leader in the use of the Internet for international networking.

A National Kidney Foundation fellow during his training in pathology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1970's, Dr. Solez was formerly an associate professor of medicine and pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. His efforts at networking renal pathologists and renal clinicians began in the early 80's when he chaired the Medical Advisory Board of the Maryland Affiliate of the NKF and helped organize a series of international symposia on acute renal failure, including one in Baltimore in 1982 and one in Edmonton in 1988.

After moving to Canada in 1987 as professor and chairman of pathology at the University of Alberta, Dr. Solez was named chairman of the International Society of Nephrology's Commission on Acute Renal Failure in 1989. Under the auspices of the commission, he initiated and chaired the Banff Conference on Standardization of Nomenclature and Criteria for diagnosis of Renal Allograft Rejection and the Disaster Relief Task Force.

Dr. Solez with colleague Michele Hales created the first renal Internet discussion group, NEPHROL, which has now given birth to thirteen offshoot groups (see e-mail-based Discussion Groups for Renal Professionals). The thirteen groups — NEPHMIN, NEPHJNL, NEHPHIST, NEPHCNPT, NEPHNPPT, NEPHDEVEL, NEPHBSCI, NEPHINDIG, NEPHRONOL, KFINT-L, RENALPRO, and RENALRD — plus NEPROL now have a membership of more than 3000 people from more than 80 countries, who discuss every conceivable topic related to nephrology. There also are three E-mail discussion groups for patients and patient's families: NEPHKIDS, KIDNEYDISEASE, and IGAN.

The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

The University of Alberta has more than 29,000 students, including 4,000 graduate students, and over 2,000 academic staff. Its University Library System is home to the second largest academic library collection in Canada. As one of the five largest research-intensive universities in Canada, the University of Alberta is in the forefront in the use of the Internet and computing resources for teaching. The sixteen mailman Email discussion groups that are a part of NKF cyberNephrology (thirteen for professionals and three for patients) are a small component of the 935 such groups run by the University.

Other Collaborations

CyberNephrology joins with other organizations in the nephrology and transplant fields to bring as many Internet-based resources as possible to the renal community. It currently cooperates with:

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About the National Kidney Foundation

Founded in 1950, the National Kidney Foundation, Inc. (NKF) is dedicated to preventing kidney and urinary tract diseases, improving the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by these diseases and increasing the availability of all organs for transplantation. Through our National Office in New York City and 51 Affiliates throughout the country, NKF develops and delivers programs to communities and individuals nationwide. Leading these efforts are more than 30,000 volunteers from all walks of life. Together they bring help and hope to the 20 million Americans who suffer from kidney and urologic diseases through patient and community services and advocacy, public and professional education, research and organ donation programs.

The National Kidney Foundation depends heavily upon support from the American public, which accounts for 86 percent of our income. Government grants provide only one percent of our funding, while miscellaneous income from such sources as membership and partnership fees and sales of literature make up the rest.

NKF is proud to be the world’s largest organization promoting organ and tissue donation. Through our service, educational and athletic programs the Foundation increases public awareness of the need, supports those involved in the organ donation process and provides education and services to transplant recipients.

More than 100 publications and a host of audiovisual materials inform the public and support NKF's programs in patient and community services and professional education, which now number more than a dozen. The Foundation also promotes and funds basic and clinical research and supports the careers of promising scientists.

To provide an opportunity for health care professionals treating kidney patients to exchange information and hear the latest research findings, NKF sponsors two international meetings each year: the Annual Meeting for nurses, technicians, dietitians and social workers, and the Clinical Nephrology Meetings, a multi-disciplinary meeting providing sessions for nephrologists and other renal care professionals as well as family physicians. Our three professional journals also help keep the renal community informed of advances in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease.

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Upcoming cyberNephrology Events

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Upcoming Continuing Education Events

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Future Plans

Since technology is evolving so rapidly, a detailed five- or ten-year plan for cyberNephrology would soon be obsolete. Therefore NKF cyberNephrology has established overall goals but will plan specific activities and initiatives on a year-to-year basis. Some of the programs envisioned for the near future are technologic collaboration with industry in the area of the electronic patient record and point of care delivery information, creation of major website portal for a new initiative linking nephrology clinical practice guidelines in five different countries, CD-ROM educational programs, educational programs conducted over the Internet, and electronic newsletters and educational materials for patients and medical professionals using Internet and CD-ROM technology.

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E-mail-based Discussion Groups for Renal Professionals

The content of each digest is the same as the corresponding group but arrives as one message a day.

To subscribe (it’s free) ask Janice McDonald (jm5@ualberta.ca), Michele Hales Michele.Hales@UAlberta.CA or Dr. Solez (Kim.Solez@UAlberta.ca) to subscribe you or send e-mail to mailman@mailman.srv.ualberta.ca with one or more of the following commands on separate lines:

subscribe NEPHROL
subscribe NEPHJNL
subscribe NEPHHIST
subscribe NEPHCNPT
subscribe NEPHNPPT
subscribe NEPHDEVEL
subscribe NEPHBSCI
subscribe NEPHINDIG
subscribe NEPHRONOL
subscribe KFINT-L
subscribe NEPHROL-DIGEST
subscribe NEPHJNL-DIGEST
subscribe NEPJHIST-DIGEST
subscribe NEPHCNPT-DIGEST
subscribe NEPHNPPT-DIGEST
subscribe NEPHDEVEL-DIGEST
subscribe NEPHBSCI-DIGEST
subscribe NEPHINDIG-DIGEST
subscribe NEPHRONOL-DIGEST
subscribe KFINT-L-DIGEST
subscribe NEPHMIN

To subscribe, follow the directions from the link or send e-mail to the address in brackets with one or more of the following commands on separate lines:

subscribe RenalPro
subscribe RenalRD
subscribe PedNeph
subscribe TRNSPLNT

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Nephrology E-mail-based Discussion Groups for Patients and Patient's Families

To subscribe send e-mail to the address in brackets with one or more of the following commands on separate lines:

subscribe igan
subscribe DIALYSIS
subscribe nephkids
subscribe kidneydisease

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Nephrology and Transplant Organization Websites

The following organizations have websites that give information about membership, meetings, events and publications. The UNOS site provides comprehensive U.S. statistics on organ transplantation.

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Other Nephrology and Transplant Web Sites

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