Dear Members of the ISPD
It is a great honor for me to assume the role of president of our society and follow in the footsteps of Drs. Lo, Krediet, Prichard, Gokal, Oreopoulos, Bergstrom, Nolph, LaGreca and Maher. This occurred in June during the 12th congress of our society in Istanbul, Turkey a very scientifically and culturally successful meeting under the leadership of Drs. Utas and Ersoy. The theme of the meeting was "Positioning PD towards the Future". I feel that the work of our prior presidents, the congress chairs and previous council and committee members of our society have certainly done just that. The energy emanating from the enthusiasm, friendship and the pursuit of knowledge and science prevalent at that meeting should benefit the future of our society, the practice of PD and our patients. As members of the renal replacement community we need to embrace that energy and use it in our every day practice and interactions with peers and patients.
During the last two years our society has become incorporated and we have launched a new web page (http://ispd.org )- both a means of positioning us for the future. Under the editorial skills of Dr Blake, our Journal has continued to evolve with more science and critical reviews which have helped the reader better position the use of and understanding of PD. Utilization of PD has continued to grow not only in Asia, but also in developing countries and to some extent again in North America and Europe. Observational studies from the United States and Canada continue to show an early survival advantage for those who choose to do PD versus patients on center hemodialysis which is now maintained for longer periods and is more robust than it has been. I feel that this is in part a reflection of the educational efforts of our society and the medical care delivered by members of our society.
My goal as president is for our society to take advantage of PD's current "position" and to expand on: our knowledge base; our educational efforts; our enthusiasm for the patients and the therapy; and where clinically appropriate, to increase PD utilization. I look forward to working with our council, committees, the membership, leaders of other societies, dialysis providers, industry, and when necessary regulatory and reimbursement agencies of various countries so that PD as a therapy can continue to move forward and where appropriate provide a quality therapy option for patients with kidney failure. Thank you in advance for your support, and I look forward to our society's future.
John Burkart, MD
President of ISPD
Professor of Medicine/Nephrology
Wake Forest University Medical Center
Winston Salem, NC USA
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President's Message Archives
Biography
John Burkart, M.D. is tenured Professor of medicine/nephrology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston Salem, N.C. He is Corporate Medical Director of the Wake Forest University Outpatient Dialysis Centers (14 centers, 1400 patients). He did his medical school at Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois. He did his residency training and fellowship at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University. He has served on the KDOQI-PD Adequacy work group since it's formation, most recently as co-chair for the 3rd version of these guidelines.
He was treasurer, president elect and is now (june 2008) president of the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis. He has served as a member of the CMS advisory council for dialysis reimbursement based on case mix. He has been repeatedly elected to the Wake Forest University Physicians advisory council and eight member executive Board. This board has oversight for the financial and medical aspects of the clinical operations of Wake Forest University Medical School. He has been a co-investigater in the NIH sponsored MDRD study, Hemo trial and currently is involved in the Frequent Hemodialysis trial. He has authored many chapters on peritoneal dialysis in major nephrology text books, has co-written two editions of the ASN dialysis NephSAP, and parts of Up To Date.
He remains clinically active and is interested in all clinical aspects of ESRD specifically home therapies such as PD and HD. |