ASN News

ASN Membership Reminder

ASN’s online invoicing is the fastest, easiest way to renew your membership. Please take a few moments now to renew your ASN membership electronically for 2005 to ensure uninterrupted membership services including:

Printed and online subscriptions to the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN) and NephSAP (Nephrology Self-Assessment Program)
Free Online Job Placement Service and Membership Directory
Renal Express and Renal Policy Express
Discounts on all ASN educational programs
Eligibility for Fellowship of the American Society of Nephrology (FASN) status

Beginning in 2005, the ASN will offer an online advocacy mechanism that will enable us to connect you with members of Congress, the President, and even local government officials to voice your concerns about important medical issues debated in the government through prewritten, customized letters emailed directly by you. Since this system will interact directly with our membership database and constituency is determined by your home address, it is important for us to have your home address. Please share your home address with us, so that we can make it possible for you to communicate with your government officials on issues that are important to you and the renal community!

Regional Meetings: Highlights of ’04 Renal Week

We’re expanding our Regional Meetings (“Renal Week Highlights”) to include six cities. 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. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner educational programs will be included in all six cities. The following major areas of nephrology will be covered: Parenchymal Diseases, Transplantation, Hypertension, ESRD, Disorders of Bone and Mineral Metabolism, and Clinical Nephrology.

In January and February, we’re coming to a city near you!

Los Angeles, CA, January 8–9, 2005
Dallas, TX, January 22–23, 2005
New York, NY, January 29–30, 2005
Washington, DC, February 5–6, 2005
Chicago, IL, February 12–13, 2005
Seattle, WA, February 26–27, 2005
Don’t delay! Visit the ASN website at http://www.asn-online.org to print out a registration form and reserve your housing today!

JASN Self-Publication Update

The ASN′s move to self-publication is now official! Beginning this month, the ASN will now publish JASN in-house. As part of the transition to self-publication, the ASN has decided to take advantage of the Internet’s capacity to provide rapid release of scientific information. On November 10, 2004, we launched JASN Express, our brand-new “publish ahead of print” program. Online articles appear weekly as they are accepted through the peer review process. Through JASN Express, ASN members and subscribers to JASN are able to read the full text of articles approximately six to eight weeks earlier than they appear in print. Upon release in print, both the JASN Express version and the final version are accessible via JASN Online.

ASN Awards

The deadline for submitting awards nominations for 2005 will be Friday, January 28, 2005.

The ASN congratulates the following 2004 awardees:

Charles B. Carpenter, recipient of The John P. Peters Award.

The ASN awarded Dr. Charles B. Carpenter, Director of the Tissue Typing Laboratory, Director of the Immunogenetics Laboratory, and Professor of Medicine at Bingham and Women’s Hospital, with the 2004 John P. Peters Award for his outstanding contributions to nephrology. This award recognizes individuals who have made substantial research contributions to the discipline of nephrology and have sustained achievements in one or more domains of academic medicine including clinical care, education, and leadership. Established in 1983, this annual award is named for one of the fathers of nephrology and former Chief of the Metabolic Division in the Department of Medicine at Yale University. Dr. Carpenter is a pioneer in the field of transplantation; in 1962, he cared for the first successful cadaveric kidney recipients treated with azathioprine, launching his forty-year career at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Jeffrey H. Miner, recipient of The Young Investigator Award.

The ASN presented Dr. Jeffrey H. Miner, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Renal Division at Washington University School of Medicine with the 2004 Young Investigator Award. This prestigious award is presented annually to an individual with an outstanding record of achievement and creativity in basic or patient-oriented research relating to the functions and diseases of the kidney. The Young Investigator Award is co-sponsored by the Council on the Kidney of the American Heart Association and limited to individuals who are less than 41 years of age on the first day of the ASN meeting at which the award is presented. One of Dr. Miner’s most notable achievements is the discovery of a novel glomerular basement membrane protein, crucial for glomerular development and function, which allowed him to make major inroads into understanding how basement membranes are involved in kidney development, function, and disease.

Thomas J. Jentsch, recipient of The Homer W. Smith Award.

Dr. Thomas J. Jentsch, Professor of Neuropathology at the Center for Molecular Neurobiology at the University of Hamburg, was the 2004 recipient of The Homer W. Smith Award. Established in 1964, this award recognizes Homer W. Smith, one of the major intellectual forces in renal physiology who applied clarity and logic to transform his ideas about glomerular filtration and tubular absorption and secretion of solutes into vivid concepts, which now serve as foundations of our understanding of normal and abnormal renal function. Dr. Jentsch has made major contributions in the molecular identification of the ClC family of chloride channels and performed extensive work in the physiological characterization of these channels.

Philip J. Held, Friedrich K. Port, and Robert A. Wolfe, recipients of The Belding H. Scribner Award.

The ASN selected Drs. Philip J. Held, Friedrich K. Port, and Robert A. Wolfe as the Belding H. Scribner Awardees for 2004. The Belding H. Scribner Award is presented annually to an individual or individuals who have made outstanding contributions to clinical nephrology and care of patients with renal disorders. Established in 1995, this award honors the physician who developed the arteriovenous shunt that first made long term hemodialysis for chronic renal failure possible. A prominent member of the medical research community, Dr. Held is distinguished for his works in epidemiology, health economics, and clinical transplant, including seminal work in transplantation and cost-effectiveness. An expert in clinical nephrology, epidemiology, and quantitative analysis, Dr. Port has more than 30 years of experience identifying variables in ESRD, transplantation, and dialysis. For more than 20 years, Dr. Wolfe has made tremendous contributions to empirical evidence-based research of patients with renal disease.

ASN Grant Deadlines for 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)*
Halpin Foundation-ASN Research Grant (Due March 11, 2005)*
New Directions Grant for Established Investigators (Due March 11, 2005)
Student Scholar Grant (Due February 11, 2005)
M. James Scherbenske Grant (Quarterly Deadline of March 15, 2005, June 15, 2005, & November 15, 2005)

*Learn more about two these news grants below:

KUFA-ASN Research Grant.

Designed to provide funding for young faculty to foster evolution to an independent research career by providing transition funding toward successful application for an RO1 grant. Applicants must be within 7 years of initial appointment and may be in the last two years of a mentored award. Must be able to show evidence of progress toward capability to oversee an independent research project or its equivalent.

Halpin Foundation-ASN Research Grant.

Directed at researchers studying membranous nephropathy to provide funding for young faculty to foster evolution to an independent research career by providing transition funding toward successful application for an RO1 grant. Applicants must be within 7 years of initial appointment and may be in the last two years of a mentored award. Must be able to show evidence of progress toward capability to oversee an independent research project or its equivalent.