“Let’s Get to Work!” – New ISN YNC Chair, Sabine Karam, on Ongoing and Future YNC Projects

By Sabine Karam, chair, ISN Young Nephrologists Committee (YNC)

While the Covid-19 pandemic was an unprecedented tragedy on so many fronts, and the world is witnessing an alarming increase in natural and man-made disasters, a silver lining has emerged: the exponential rise of virtual media and increased solidarity and support among the international nephrology community. This shift has propelled ISN’s mission and vision to bridge gaps and connect cultures for sustainable global kidney health to greater heights.

Over the past two years, this increase in virtual communication has translated into valuable YNC initiatives to build capacity and increase collaboration among young nephrologists worldwide.

Examples include a under development alongside the ISN Academy, significant input in the ISN Scientific Writing Course (SWC), and an invaluable networking platform, the ISN Young Nephrologists Network (YNN). In addition, ongoing dialogues with other young nephrologist societies increased, notably with the UK SpR club, the Young Australia and New Zealand Society of Nephrology and the Asia-Pacific Nephrology Society Young Nephrologist Committee (APSN-YNC).

At WCN’23, we sadly said goodbye to two exceptional YNC members at the end of their terms: past chair Marina Wainstein and very active member Rhys Evans. But we also welcomed four new members: Thomas Schachtner ( Switzerland), Gaetano Alfano (Italy), Letizia Dudel Mayer (Brazil), and Iman Al Shamsy (United Arab Emirates). We are greatly looking forward to working alongside them!

Moving forward, we are keener than ever to finalize our toolkit on setting up young nephrologist societies and committees locally with the input of well-established young nephrologist societies. We’re also excited about developing a global network of young nephrologist societies for mutual support and increased impact.

We are eager to continue contributing to ISN’s capacity-building in research to help young nephrologists in low-income settings who are struggling to acquire the necessary skills to conduct valuable research to improve kidney care in their communities. Our active participation in the ISN SWC, in a research toolkit, and educational initiatives in collaboration with the ISN Clinical Research Program committee will help fill the gaps and strengthen the global research community, particularly for early-career researchers.

We will continue to advocate for prioritizing chronic kidney disease in the non-communicable disease global health agenda through our involvement in the WHO Youth Council and our representation in several ISN committees.

In addition, the YNC is playing a significant role in developing WCN’24’s scientific program this year. We hope to ensure even greater diversity and inclusiveness than ever.

Finally, the YNC’s ongoing project to create multilingual patient education leaflets will hopefully allow us to become better at our primary mission: serving our patients to the best of our capacity and knowledge.

The future looks bright, and 25 young nephrologists supported by an ever-expanding YNN are striving to be part of it. Let’s get to work!