'If not for the AKF CSN program, I wouldn't be here today'

For over 30 years, AKF's Clinical Scientist in Nephrology (CSN) Program has funded researchers working to improve diagnosis, treatment and outcomes for people living with kidney disease. 

CSN alumni Drs. Alexandra Bicki, Glenn Chertow, Gary Curhan, Maria E. Diaz-Gonzalez de Ferris, Christine Limonte and Alison Potok recently shared their reflections on being a part of the program. 

Impact on Career

The CSN Program helps promote clinical research in nephrology and provides opportunities for advanced training for nephrologists (kidney doctors) in the early stages of their careers. Our CSN Program alumni noted how impactful the fellowship was in setting them up for success later in their careers.

"CSN is what launched my research career in kidney stones," said Dr. Gary Curhan, who received CSN funding from 1990 to 1992 focused on kidney stones — research he continues to this day. "The AKF CSN fellowship came through, and it just completely changed my opportunities. It allowed me to do research, to not only have dedicated time, but it also allowed me to remain in academics, [so I could] get my master's of science at the Harvard School of Public Health and Epidemiology, which subsequently I was then able to go on and get my doctorate. And so, all of that came from that two-year AKF fellowship."

"The CSN Program had a tremendous impact on my career," said Dr. Alison O. Potok. An AKF-Akebia Therapeutics CSN Program fellow between 2019 and 2021, Dr. Potok completed her fellowship at the UCSD. Her research project aimed to better understand how two common markers used to estimate kidney function relate to aging and body composition. "I had very little experience in research at that time, and this fellowship provided me with protected time for research, which allowed me to hone my skills in epidemiology and biostatistics, and also to increase the number of publications. This fellowship was really pivotal in launching my career."

Dr. Glenn M. Chertow, who was the AKF-Amgen fellow from 1993 to 1995, also credits the CSN program for laying the foundation for the research methods he has used throughout his 30-year career as a clinical investigator.

"Those years during which I was supported by AKF gave me the time and opportunity to learn fundamentals of research," said Dr. Chertow. "To really understand how to ask the right questions and whether those questions which are interesting are feasible to answer… And I think it really changed the way I thought about how research is initiated and implemented [and] it created in me a dedication to training the next generation of kidney medicine researchers — several of my trainees also were supported over the course of time by the CSN [Program] fellowship."

A professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Nephrology at Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Chertow continues to maintain a productive research program focused on improving care for people with acute and chronic kidney disease.

Dr. Maria E. Diaz-Gonzalez de Ferris was one of the first CSN Program fellows from 1989 to 1991, focusing on congenital abnormalities in the kidneys and urinary tract (CAKUT). She is now the director of the Mundo Consortium, she said in part thanks to the CSN Program. "The Mundo Consortium is an international consortium of 47 countries who supply dialysis data in children, adolescents and adults, and I am able to help coordinate some of the pediatric focused projects, research projects," she said. "I wouldn't be able to do any of that if I didn't have this PhD level training that the Clinical Scientists in Nephrology Program allowed me to do. So, I'm very grateful."

Even CSN Program grant recipients who are still early in their careers, like Dr. Christine Limonte, are already seeing the impact of the program.

"If not for the AKF CSN Program, I wouldn't be here today," said Dr. Limonte, who was a CSN Program fellow during the 2021 academic year. Her research focused on diabetic kidney disease. "The CSN Program gave me the funding and support that I needed to develop my research plan and to really launch my research career. In those two years as a CSN [Program] fellow, I was able to establish mentorship, connections, collaborators and really start to gain recognition in the field. And where I am now, I not only have independent funding supporting my research, but I'm being invited to give national talk — I'm starting to be seen as an expert in the field and that's not something that would have been possible if not for those two years of supported research." 

Impact on Nephrology Field

The CSN Program has trained some of nephrology's brightest scholars who have gone on to become leaders in the field and mentors to new generations of scientists studying kidney disease. Our alumni have conducted groundbreaking research that advances knowledge and treatment of kidney disease, which they said has had a positive effect on the field of nephrology overall. 

"There's no doubt that there is a tremendous amount of basic science research that we need to do in kidney disease to advance the field and to bring us closer to some of the precision therapies ultimately that we see in oncology and other fields," Dr. Chertow said. "But the AKF CSN [Program] fellowship was really focused on research related to patients' care and improving the lives of patients with kidney disease. So, this fellowship provides an opportunity to train one or two or three of the most outstanding clinically focused investigators and it's allowed for the development of research programs, even in some areas and at some institutions that didn't have sufficient support [for] research. I think its focus on clinical research was part of what built clinical research in nephrology over the last 30 years and really demonstrated that people could make major contributions doing patient-oriented research and not only in a basic laboratory science."

"[What] AKF is doing — fostering the careers of young trainees in the field — is very important because we don't have enough people joining pediatric nephrology and nephrology to meet the demand with the epidemic of obesity and diabetes," said Dr. Ferris. "I appreciate the efforts that the American Kidney Fund has been doing."

"It had a huge impact [on the field]," added Dr. Curhan. "We really did the first dietary study of kidney stones prospectively, and we found that dietary calcium was inversely associated with kidney stones. It was the exact opposite of what everybody thought at the time and how we had been treating kidney stones. So, this AKF-funded project has really had a huge impact not only in how we understand kidney stones but also how we treat people with kidney stones."

"Building a career in research is hard, especially if you're a clinician who has spent the bulk of your time in training, in medical school, there's lots of costs associated with that," said Dr. Limonte. "Programs such as the AKF CSN Program can really give people who [are] just testing the waters in terms of research an opportunity to try out something new and develop this important skill set. And I think the more and more people we have from different backgrounds who are pursuing research the more we can bring new ideas to the field and really change the care that we're seeing today. Knowing that there's this dedicated program that's intending to advance kidney disease care and support junior investigators is really transformative."

"I think funding from the CSN Program is really crucial for early-stage investigators like me, who are doing their fellowship, but also are trying to find their research niche," said Dr. Alexandra Bicki, who completed her fellowship research on facilitators and barriers to home dialysis and transplant for pediatric and adolescent kidney patients between 2023 and 2024. 

Impact on Connections

There have been over 50 CSN Program fellows since the program began in 1989, and our alumni all noted how helpful and special it is to be part of this group of nephrologists — even decades after their fellowship took place.

"[An] advantage of being part of the CSN Program is that there's now this huge network," said Dr. Curhan. "When [someone says], 'I'm an AKF CSN fellow,' that completely changes how we would interact with them. We want to do whatever we can to help and be sure that they're successful. So, I still feel very connected."

Dr. Ferris also commented on the lasting community of the CSN Program: "We have a special bond," she said. "The AKF is our glue, but we all had been funded at a time of our lives when it was greatly appreciated, when it was greatly needed, when it was perhaps life-changing for many of us — for me, for certain it was life-changing. It got me into the right track. But, there is this special bond that the American Kidney Fund has for the group of us who have been so lucky to receive funds for our careers."

Dr. Chertow also spoke about the "very warm sense of community" the CSN Program has created. "The other AKF CSN scholars and I — particularly those of us who were involved with the program very early — it created a friend group. Almost like a community that one might have at a school or a religious organization," he said. "I think many of the CSN scholars over the years have worked with each other or mentored each other remotely from different institutions. I think AKF has done remarkable work over many decades, and this program is something for which I have always been extremely grateful."  

"I think it provided me with the opportunity to really have a mentor network," said Dr. Bicki. "That national network is really important in terms of recruiting patients, seeing what other institutions are doing, whether it's working or not, so that we're not reinventing the wheel in such a small field like [pediatric nephrology]."

"It's not just any grant," Dr. Limonte added. "It's a trusted program. I'll say I was an AKF CSN fellow and people will say, so was I, or so was my colleague, and it feels like you are kind of entering this club of high achievers who really want to do well by patients and really want to change the world and improve it for kidney patients. AKF is really an outstanding advocate for people with or at risk for kidney disease. And there's an incredible community of researchers supported by AKF. It's just amazing to look at the collective accomplishments of these scientists and I'm very proud to be part of this community and AKF can be very proud of this."

You can find out more about the AKF Clinical Scientist in Nephrology Program,  including more about previous fellows, on our website.