Dear ISN member,

From today, the Commission for the Global Advancement of Nephrology (COMGAN) will become known as ISN Global Outreach Programs or ISN GO Programs. The programs have not changed. This change of name signals ISN's decision to clarify and emphasize its philantropic and humanitarian mission as it moves forward into the future.

Since 1995, kidney specialists, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals from emerging countries have benefitted from ISN-sponsored high-level education outreach programs and gained valuable skills to treat and provide better care for their patients. ISN GO programs are enabling experts from the developed world to reach out to those who need it the most and make a difference to the lives of kidney patients worldwide.

The ISN GO structure counts eight regional committees that help identify local and clinical needs to develop specific training and tailored screening and prevention programs. ISN GO compromises five core programs.

• The Fellowship Program provides specific and hands-on training opportunities to young kidney specialists from emerging countries in host institutions across the developed world. ISN Fellows return home to share new skills and knowledge in basic and clinical nephrology, dialysis, transplantation, epidemiology and improve local standards.
• The Sister Renal Center (SRC) Program links renal centers in emerging countries with supporting centers of excellence in the developed world. Providing educational support and guidance, it creates self-sufficient renal centers in poorer countries.
• The Research and Prevention Program promotes research and education programs in low to middle income countries involving local nephrologists, health workers and authorities to document the effectiveness of early detection and intervention in reducing the burden of renal disease.
• The Continuing Medical Education (CME) Program brings essential teaching and training to medical audiences throughout the emerging world. Volunteer experts from the developed world travel to emerging countries to deliver lectures and workshops at locally-organized events.
• Through the Educational Ambassadors Program, renal centers in underserved countries can request an ISN volunteer expert to join them onsite for one to four weeks and provide hands-on training to develop community based research and screening projects or other clinical programs.

To find out more about ISN and its Global Outreach Programs, visit http://www.theisn.org/.

Thanks to the ISN GO Programs, you can give back to medical communities that do not have ready access to current expertise in renal care and increase screening programs. Together, we can work towards reducing the onset of kidney disease on a global scale.

Kindest regards,

William Couser - ISN GO Chair