The Nephron Segment: A Kidney Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

It’s Episode 16 of The Nephron Segment and it's time for NephMadness! Join us as we chat with transplant nephrologist Dr. Swee Levea & transplant surgeon (and obesity medicine specialist!) Dr. Babak Orandi and discuss the obesity in kidney transplant recipients and kidney transplant donors! Listen to the end to hear everyone's picks (except any Blue Ribbon Panelists) for NephMadness 2025. Before you make your picks, check out the Obesity & Kidney Transplant Region here. Or flip a coin.

Submit your NephMadness brackets here (just like March Madness!) by 3/31. Maximize your changes by submitting 2 brackets per email address.

Nephrons: Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests: Swee Levea, Babak Orandi

It’s Episode 15 of The Nephron Segment! We sit down with David Rush: rapper, singer, songwriter, motivational speaker, kidney patient, kidney advocate, and 2022 recipient of the American Society of Nephrology President's Medal. He shares his inspiring journey with kidney disease, which began in 10th grade right before football season - and journey through which he has been able to complete a 52 city tour with Pitbull. If you don't already know, you'll learn what a battle rap is, what a home hemodialysis machine sounds like while it's warming up, and where the name Rush comes from.

Check out is debut single "Shooting Star" (from 2008) here

Nephrons: Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests: David Rush

1:11: David Rush

3:39: Alonzo Mourning

4:16: Sock it to Kidney Disease

9:38: Kidney Care Options

10:37: Battle Rap

11:42: Shady Records

12:33: Nems

14:22: 2009 Tour Poster

25:10: American Kidney Fund 2023 Summit

29:12: American Society of Nephrology President's Medal

32:46: David Rush on Spotify

In Episode 6, guests Catherine Godson, PhD & Kirk Campbell join us for a discussion about their careers as physician-scientists. They discuss their journeys to their current careers, the "moment" they knew research was the career for them, and share advice for trainees. American Society of Nephrology 2022 Kidney Week Program Co-Chairs Dr. Godson & Dr. Campbell also give us a sneak peak into this year's conference, which starts November 3rd.

Nephrons: Sam Kant, Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests: Catherine Godson, Kirk Campbell

In Episode 5, guests Terri Murrray, RN and Jonathan Armenti, RN join us for a discussion about the role of nurses in dialysis and kidney transplantation in the care of patients with kidney disease. They discuss their journeys to their current careers, challenges faced by our patients, the hardest parts of their jobs, and recommendations on how we can improve kidney care.

Nephrons: Elinor Mannon, Sam Kant, Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests: Terri Murray, Jonathan Armenti

Links from the Show:

1:42 The experience of being a dialysis nurse

5:47 Role of the transplant coordinator 

8:59 Challenges faced by patients receiving dialysis  

14:43 Care coordination for patients receiving dialysis 

16:12 Improving care for patients with kidney transplants 

16:44 Importance of social support in kidney transplantation 

18:06 Living kidney donation awareness 

19:21 Building trust with patients 

19:55 Empathetic validation in patient-provider communication 

22:55 The emergence of home dialysis 

24:35 The focus on patient reported outcomes 

27:50 Social support: imperative for patients receiving dialysis 

31:32 Nutrition in kidney disease 

32:48 Educating patients about their disease and improving involvement in their care 

34:19: Patient and care-partner empowerment

On Episode 4, guests Dr. Genzton Hall and Dr. Narjust Florez join us for a conversation about their journeys in medicine and the importance of diversity, inclusion, and the creation of communities to foster acceptance and belongingness. Dr. Florez shares why the term "cultural competency" should be forgotten - and replaced with "cultural humility."

On Episode 3, guests Morgan Reid & Patrick O. Gee PhD, JLC join us to share their journeys as patients with kidney disease - who received both dialysis and kidney transplants. They share incredibly powerful personal experiences and their advice for kidney healthcare providers

Nephrons: Elinor Mannon, Sam Kant, Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests: Morgan Reid, Patrick O. Gee

Links from the Show:

3:05 Delayed graft function

5:27 Peritoneal Dialysis

7:10 IgA nephropathy

9:57 Lupus nephritis

11:00 Living kidney donor evaluation process

12:00 Mistrust, misperceptions, and miscommunication: A qualitative study of preferences about kidney transplantation among African-Americans

13:00 Social media & living kidney donation

16:00 Health Literacy in African-American Communities: Barriers and Strategies

17:37 Social determinants of health & NephMadness (Patrick O. Gee)

18:00 Chronic kidney disease classification 

23:55 African-Americans suffer from highest rates of end stage kidney disease (ESKD) in comparison to other racial ethnic groups

25:11 The Organ Thieves: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South

26:24 Donate life

26:30 Living donor protection act

26:55 Clinical trials seek to fix their lack of racial mix 

34:00 National Kidney Foundation peer mentoring program for patients with kidney disease (NKF PEERS) 

36:05 Vaca frita

On Episode 2, guests Dr.Janice Lea and Dr. Osama El Shamy join us for a discussion about home dialysis: it's history, why it's important, and their thoughts the future - including addressing of barriers to meet lofty Advancing American Kidney Health initiative goals and training of the nephrology workforce.

Nephrons: Elinor Mannon, Sam Kant, Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests: Janice Lea, Osama El Shamy

Links from the Show:

2:44 A Brief History of Home Hemodialysis (Blagg C)

4:26 The First US Outpatient Dialysis Unit: Seattle Artificial Kidney Center (Blagg C)

4:48 Dr. Albert Babb and the home dialysis unit for a 15 year-old

6:04 Controversy re: first home hemodialysis case (Shaldon)

11:13 Home Versus Facility Dialysis and Mortality in Australia and New Zealand (Marshall et al.)

11:13 An Incident Cohort Study Comparing Survival on Home Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis (Naudeau-Fredette et al.)

18:59 Advancing American Kidney Health

20:50 USRDS 2021 Annual Data Report Chapter 2: Home Dialysis

21:30 Expanded Prospective Payment System and Use of and Outcomes with Home Dialysis by Race and Ethnicity in the United States (Shen et al.)

23:05 Expanding Utilization of Home Dialysis: An Action Agenda From the First International Home Dialysis Roundtable (Mendu et al.)

29:29 Home Dialysis Training for Fellows: Privilege or Necessity? (El Shamy et al.)

31:18 A Survey-Based Evaluation of Self-Perceived Competency after Nephrology Fellowship Training (Berns et al.)

34:52 The Peritoneal Dialysis Orders Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): A Formative Assessment for Nephrology Fellows (Prince et al.)

43:19 Buttonhole Technique 

For more on home hemodialysis, check out the Home Dialysis Series on Renal Fellow Network

It's Episode 1 of The Nephron Segment! Join the Nephrons as we chat with Dr. Lilia Cervantes and Dr. Peter Reese and discuss ending emergency-only dialysis for undocumented immigrants in Colorado, ethics of transplantation, and xenotransplantation.

Nephrons: Elinor Mannon, Sam Kant, Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests: Lilia Cervantes, Peter Reese

Links from the Show:

11:20 Association of Citizenship Status With Kidney Transplantation in Medicaid Patients

11:51 Kidney transplantation in undocumented immigrants with ESRD: a policy whose time has come? (Linden et al.)

Organ donation among undocumented hispanic immigrants: an assessment of knowledge and attitudes (Baru et al.)

12:23 Undocumented immigrants apply for a driver’s license in CA

13:48 Racial disparities in preemptive waitlisting and deceased donor kidney transplantation: Ethics and solutions (Reese et al.)

20:25 Transplantation Ethics (Robert Veatch & Lainie F Ross)

When Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon (Joshua Mezrich)

22:06 Peter Ubel & Financial Toxicity

26:23 Passage of the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act—a Chance to Celebrate and Reflect (Gill J et al.)

28:57 eGenesis

30:05  Pig kidney transplant at New York University (NY Times)

Pig kidney transplant at University of Alabama (American Journal of Transplantation)

30:53 Pig heart transplant at University of Maryland (NPR)

38:02 EMTALA

41:30 NephMadness

It’s Episode 14 of The Nephron Segment! Join us as we chat with Dr. Mehmet Sukru Sever and Dr. Rasha Rashan and discuss disaster nephrology and kidney care during crises. To summarize Dr. Sever tells us "disasters are inevitable. And All countries around the globe are at risk of disasters, either natural or man made." We discuss what we might learn from prior disasters, what do expect in the future, and what we should do, as a nephrology community, to prepare for the worst.

Nephrons: Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests:  Mehmet Sukru Sever, Rasha Rashan

1:44: Marmara earthquake (1999)

2:35: Bingöl earthquake (2003)

2:44: Bam earthquake (2003)

2:57: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

4:07: Some of Dr. Sever's Papers

4:35: "Destructive Disasters, trauma, crush injury, and beyond"

9:42: Kidney News 2024 Special Section

13:10: "Disasters & Kidney Care: Pitfalls and Solutions" (Nature Reviews Nephrology 2023)

16:31: "An Overlooked, Possibly Fatal Coronavirus Crisis: A Dire Need for Kidney Dialysis" (New York Times 2020)

19:23: "Nephrology Care in Challenging Circumstances: A Patient's Perspective" (Kidney News 2024)

19:59: Syrian refugee crisis

22:08: Refugees & asylees in the United States

25:49: National Kidney Foundation's "Emergency Resources"

26:35: Announcement: ASN, ISN, ERA Collective Effort (2023)

29:06: "Planet Sets Record for Hottest Day Twice in a Row" (2024)

29:12: A review of CKD of unknown etiology (CKDu)

29:49: UEFA Euro 2024

It’s Episode 13 of The Nephron Segment and it's time for NephMadness! Join us as we chat with transplant nephrologist Dr. Roslyn Mannon & transplant hepatologist Dr. Elizabeth Aby and discuss all things dual-organ transplantation: liver-kidney, pancreas-kidney, kidney after liver, kidney after pancreas, or even kidney alone?! Listen to the end to hear everyone's picks for NephMadness 2024.

And to be clear, Dr. Mannon supported the Kansas City Chiefs before their Super Bowl 58 win.

Submit your NephMadness brackets here (just like March Madness!) by 3/31. Maximize your changes by submitting 2 brackets per email address.

Nephrons: Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests: Roslyn Mannon, Lizzie Aby