ISPD President’s Message – January 2020

Click here to read Prof Johnson’s message to the members of the society, and learn more about what’s happening at the society.

 

ISPD Call for Research Proposals now open!

The International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) welcomes research proposals that are of importance to the international peritoneal dialysis community. The study should require international collaboration.

Submission Deadline
15 January 2020

Eligibility Criteria
Members and non-members of the ISPD may submit proposals.

How to Prepare your Application
Please read the application guidelines carefully, available here:
APPLICATION GUIDELINES

Applicants are encouraged to discuss the proposal informally with Dr Thyago Proenca De Moraes, Chair of the ISPD International Studies Committee, by emailing admin@ispd.org before finalising and submitting the application.

Finalised applications should be submitted to admin@ispd.org by January 15th 2020.

Funding
Small grants (up to $10,000 USD) may be awarded at the discretion of the ISPD Council to help enable these projects.

The ISPD is looking for a new Editor in Chief for the PDI Journal

Peritoneal Dialysis International is currently seeking expressions of interest for a new Editor in Chief to take over the leadership of the journal from Martin Wilkie during 2020.

Peritoneal Dialysis International is an international scientific journal that is published by SAGE for the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD). The journal was founded initially as the Peritoneal Dialysis Bulletin in January 1980 before transitioning to Peritoneal Dialysis International several years later. Since this time, it has established itself as a reference platform for the publication of the latest high-quality research in the field of Peritoneal Dialysis. The journal prides itself on its commitment to publishing innovative research by scholars from around the world.

Peritoneal Dialysis International is seeking a new Editor in Chief (EIC) with a distinctive vision for the future of the journal that might build on this past success to take the journal forward. The new EIC will work closely with the current EIC for a transition period, and will have the support of the PDI Editorial Board and a support team from SAGE, the journal’s publisher. The journal publishes six issues per year.

Position Description

We are seeking EOIs from individuals with a strong track record in peritoneal dialysis clinical management, teaching and research, as well as expertise in editing and reviewing. Editors should have a post-graduate degree, substantial prior experience in an editorial role, and an established background of academic writing and publication. These roles require excellent management and organizational skills and the ability to work with an online submission management system and the staff at SAGE.

More details on the role of the Editor in Chief can be found in the annex: Editorial Responsibilities

We are seeking energetic, passionate, scholars who will make the journal a priority and seek to further build its profile, reach and impact.

Time commitment: This role requires roughly 8 hours of work per week, requiring at least some of that time to be committed on a day to day basis in order to keep on top of practical aspects.

Start date: handover period will take place in the first half of 2020.

Application Process

EOIs should include:

  • a brief (2-page) CV
  • a short (1-2 page) statement outlining relevant experience and an editorial vision for the journal
  • a list of three referees who might be confidentially contacted to offer an informal assessment of suitability.
  • a short (half page) statement on support from the applicant’s institution. We are particularly interested in any relief from normal teaching and administrative roles that might be provided to enable the editor to fit this role into a busy academic career.

EOIs should be sent to admin@ispd.org by 30 September 2019. The committee, composed of Martin Wilkie (PDI Editor-in-Chief), David Johnson (ISPD President), Simon Davies (Chair of the ISPD Publications Committee) and Joanne Bargman (Chair of the ISPD Nominating Committee), will consider all applications and conduct interviews with short-listed individuals, preferably through a face-to-face meeting during the Kidney Week in Washington in November, although teleconference interviews are also possible.

Final approval of the new team is subject to approval by the ISPD Council. We will announce a decision by Dec 1st 2019 and begin orientation with the new editor shortly afterwards.

Please contact Miguel Gallardo with any questions about this process (miguel.gallardo@ispd.org)

ISPD Fellowship Program – Round 2 of 2019 is now open!

The ISPD is pleased to announce the second round of the ISPD Fellowship Program for 2019 is now open. The deadline to submit applications is 30th September, 2019.

Do you want to know how this experience can be? Read this article about two ISPD fellows from Nigeria getting trained in Colorado.

Click here to view full details about the program, the eligibility, and the application process.

Two ISPD Fellows from Nigeria share their experiences in Colorado

Ms. Obayori Christianah Olufunke says about her Fellowship at Anschutz Medical Campus Aurora, Colorado (USA) between October and December, 2018: “My fellowship began with the mandatory HR Dept formalities and ID printing, followed by an orientation to the Dept in person by Prof Isaac Teitelbaum. I was given opportunities to attend Renal Clinics (out-patients) along with the concerned consultants”

During this training, she was  given the opportunity to have surgical experiences in the following procedures at the operating theatre:

  • Laparoscopic PD catheter placement
  • Laparoscopic PD catheter revision
  • Arteriovenous Fistula creation
  • Arteriovenous Graft placement
  • Arteriovenous Fistula revision

The majority of the days were basically on demonstration/teachings on PD procedures:

  • Starting PD
  • Taking Care of Catheters and Exit Site to Help Prevent PD Infections
  • Demonstration  of aseptic techniques during PD exchanges
  • Teaching/demonstration of steps of safe PD
  • Managing fluid on PD
  • Making decisions of care at home by the clients
  • Eating well On PD

The later days of the training was concluded on festive note where she and her colleague had dinner and Christmas party with both the Coordinator and the entire dialysis team.

After completing this fellowship, Ms Obayori Christianah Olufunke hopes to establish a PD unit in Nigeria  with the following goals:

  • To provide PD to adult and paediatric  ESRD adult patients who choose this option.
  • To provide training for interested physicians within and outside this hospital on PD
  • To develop national and international partnership with organisation/institution with similar goals.
  • To conduct research capable of improving service and patient outcome.

They also hope to partner with the University of Colorado towards this goal, which would be a wonderful culmination of this ISPD fellowship!

Ms Obayori Christianah Olufunke and Mr Oguntade Banjo Hameed,
with the staff of the Universtity of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Denver

Mr Oguntade Banjo Hameed from Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti says:

“I’d applied for this training under the supervision of Prof Isaac Teitelbaum at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver. Colorado, United State of America. Prof Isaac is a wonderful man and an amazing teacher. He assumed his supervisory role long before I arrived in America as he was helpful all through the form filling periods and visa processes”

Mr Hameed was in Colorado for 3 months commencing October 2018. He is happy to have learnt the basics of PD, catheter insertion, patient training and management of complications on PD.

On his return, a PD team has been constituted and preparations to offer PD as a therapy to patients is being done in right earnest.

Launching the process to elect next ISPD leaders

The Nominating Committee, chaired by Prof Joanne Bargman is starting the process to elect the next team of ISPD Officers, Council Members, Chapter and Committee Chairs/Members.

The positions that will be open for election (with terms) are:

  • President Elect (2 years)
  • Secretary (2 years)
  • Treasurer (2 years)
  • Oceania Region Representative (4 years)
  • Nurse Representative (4 years)
  • (2x) Asia Region Representatives (4 years)
  • Eastern Europe Region Representative (4 years)
  • Western Europe Region Representative (4 years)
  • North America Region Representative (4 years)

If any ISPD member wishes to present their candidature, and/or nominate someone else for one of the positions, please kindly send an email to Prof Joanne Bargman (through the ISPD Secretariat) before August 4 2019. Elections will take place in the first quarter of 2020.

Increasing the voice of nurses in our Society

The Nursing Liaison Committee (NLC) is now chaired by Ms Helen Hurst and has been in regular contact via teleconferencing to make plans and develop a strategy for the nurse liaison committee. Three of the members are now on the Programme Committee for ISPD 2020 and are looking forward to help deliver an exciting programme. The group regular produce replies as a collaborative to ‘ask the expert questions’ posed on the ISPD website. We have been allocated funding to use within the committee to support nurses to attend conferences and in particular to attend the Council meetings. The committee are contacted regularly by International nurses for advice and signposting, the group can offer support to nurses globally with an interest in PD. Members of the committee are also actively involved in many other initiatives connected to ISPD including guideline development and publications.

We are keen to work more closely with the other committees and will endeavour to contribute to ISPD over the coming years to acknowledge and grow the nursing voice within the ISPD Council.

ISPD-supported Projects: TEACH-PD (Update)

TEACH-PD
A Targeted Education ApproaCH to improve Peritoneal Dialysis outcomes
Co-Principal Investigators: Professor Josephine Chow & Professor Neil Boudville

The TEACH-PD training curriculum and teaching materials were developed by a core group of renal nurses from the HOME Network, nephrologists, educationalists and consumer representatives in line with the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) guidelines, using modern adult learning principles, which have been shown to enhance effectiveness of learning.

In 2018, a feasibility study was conducted with the explicit aim to evaluate acceptability and usability of the TEACH-PD training modules developed for PD trainers and patients in a real clinical setting. The results of the feasibility study have allowed for further refinement of this PD training intervention in preparation for a full-scale trial. The effect of the refined PD training intervention on the primary efficacy end point of PD-related infection will be evaluated in a full-scale, cluster-randomised controlled trial (CRCT) in Australia and New Zealand, which commenced in March 2019.

The ISPD grant has provided an important support in enabling trial initiation and as a leverage to secure other funding opportunities. In March 2019, TEACH-PD was successful in the Australian Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) round on Rare Cancers, Rare Diseases and Unmet Clinical Need Clinical Trials Program and received $2,38M. This is in addition to the ~$500,000 the team has already raised through Queensland government and industry.  On 28 June 2019, TEACH-PD was also successful in the Health Research Council of New Zealand of $1,43M over a 5 year grant.

New Committee to improve ISPD Communication

The newly established Communication and Media Committee (CMC) of the ISPD, chaired by Dr. KS Nayak, is responsible for communicating the activities of the Society and educational issues regarding peritoneal dialysis to the members of ISPD, PD community, medical professionals related to PD, patients on dialysis and their families, and the general public.

The Committee will maximize and optimize the appropriate usage of online platforms such as the website and our newsletters, social media to disseminate information to support the objectives, goals and initiatives of the Society. Some of the developing initiatives through the CMC include:

  • ISPD Newsletter: Yeoungjee Cho as Editor with Mayoor Prabhu as Deputy Editor  will work in close co-ordination with the Chair(Nayak) and the Secretariat (Miguel) and solicit inputs from all members who literally come from every major region/continent of the world.
  • NephJC Collaboration: NephJC is an extremely active and popular nephrology journal club that uses Twitter to discuss the research, guidelines, and editorials that drive nephrology. Nikhil Shah has been nominated by them to represent them in the CMC- ISPD.
  • ISPD Website: The CMC is devising strategies in how it can contribute towards increasing the ‘hits’ the ISPD website gets and help the Secretariat in its maintenance.
  • Upcoming Meetings: The CMC-ISPD shortly plans to co-ordinate with the Organising Committees of the upcoming Conferences of the ISPD in disseminating awareness before and during the event. Particular emphasis will be on the Joint ISPD-EuroPD 2020 Congress, Glasgow, where the Committee plans to closely with the Congress in popularising it in the local media (press and electronic), the nephrology community to maximise attendance. The Conference coverage of scientific and other activities will be planned using various Social Media platforms.

APCM-ISPD Nagoya – Sept. 2019: Registration and program

The 9th Asia Pacific Chapter Meeting of the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (APCM-ISPD 2019) will be held at the Nagoya Congress Center in Japan from September 5 to 7, 2019. The conference theme will be “Peritoneal Dialysis: Recent Advances and Enhancing knowledge.”

The aims for this conference are both to convey the latest discoveries as efficiently as possible and to increase the number of educational sessions to reaffirm and discuss actual practice. In addition to lectures, the training sessions will also include opportunities for discussion in the form of case conferences, and we hope to incorporate the use of answer pads to make them interactive. As Japan’s population continues to age, we also hope to advance the debate on building support systems, including assisted PD.

Nagoya, which is located in central Japan, has excellent domestic and international transportation links. There are direct flights from many Asian cities, as well as from Narita and Haneda airports in Tokyo and Osaka’s Kansai Airport. The city can also be reached from Tokyo and Osaka in a short time by the Shinkansen bullet train. There are numerous tourist attractions in the area, and Kyoto, Japan’s best-known tourist destination, is only approximately 30 minutes away by Shinkansen.

The APCM-ISPD 2019 Organizing Committee, led by Professor Yasuhiko Ito, the Congress President, has put every effort into organizing a conference that will be fulfilling for all who attend. We look forward to seeing all of you there.