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Tiffany Huitt, Ph.D., speaks with attendees during a workshop as part of KIDNEYcon 2024. Image by Nathan Tidwell

KIDNEYcon 2024 Focuses on the Present and Future of Nephrology

April 23, 2024 | More than 100 faculty, internal medicine residents, nephrologists and nephrology fellows came together April 6-8 for the ninth annual KIDNEYcon.

Sponsored by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Nephrology, the event consisted of lectures, a reception, scientific and clinical sessions, and workshops. The event was held on the UAMS campus and at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Little Rock.

“We have a lot of junior nephrologists, medical students, fellows, residents and faculty who attend, along with more senior nephrologists,” said John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Division of Nephrology. “They get to do things here they can’t do anywhere else.”

KIDNEYcon 2024 instructors and moderators came from several colleges and universities, medical institutions and medical facilities such as Arkana Laboratories.

“Arkana Labs is an important part of putting this program together,” said Kelly Bulloch, a program manager in the division. “We couldn’t do this without them.”

The Sunday evening reception at the DoubleTree Hotel featured renowned nephrologist Richard Glassock, M.D., as the keynote speaker. Glassock, professor emeritus at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, presented “Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Nephrology: Hype, Hope and Reality.”

“I have been an admirer and fan of Dr. Glassock for years,” said Arthur. “It’s a great pleasure to have him here.”

“Getting the invitation to come here and speak was quite an honor,” said Glassock, a past president of the American Society of Nephrology and the National Kidney Foundation.

Glassock discussed the future of artificial intelligence in medicine.

“Artificial intelligence is here to stay, but it must be developed for the public good. Precision medicine and artificial intelligence will coalesce in diagnosis and therapy.”

Arthur noted that the workshops, which were held in Education Building II on the second day of the conference, are a unique part of KIDNEYcon.

“We have workshops on electrolyte balance and fluids. Most of us have never tasted these things — you get to do that here,” Arthur said. “We even taste some of things we give as IV fluids. We have a workshop on urine microscopy. All of the fellows and those in training learn how to recognize things, but you don’t get a chance to do it. They can here.”

The Kidney Biopsy Academy workshop is one of the highlights of the event, Arthur said.

“We’re the only place in the country where you can get experience doing a real kidney biopsy,” Arthur said. “We do those on lightly-embalmed cadavers. We walk people through the entire process.”

One of the workshops, “Living Kidney Donor Transplant,” was a discussion on the process for increasing living donor transplants.

“We’re trying enhance awareness of living donations and ways to get patients ask people to donate a kidney,” said Arthur.

Manisha Singh, M.D., associate professor in the Division of Nephrology and the director of the home dialysis program for UAMS and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, was one of the instructors for the Home Dialysis workshop.

“We’re looking to make more people aware of home dialysis,” Singh said. “We want to train newer physicians on the process. If you have kidney disease, you may be more comfortable doing it at home.

“We have a strong home dialysis program,” she added. “We start educating our patients up front about their options. We hope that a lot of patients choose home dialysis. Many patients can do it, but they don’t know how.”

In addition to the lectures, workshops and noted speaker, Arthur said there’s another unique factor that makes UAMS’ event stand out.

“We’re very small as far kidney organizations go. People like coming here because it’s more personable — you can actually talk to people and network.”