'Supporting You Every Step of the Way': AKF hosts seventh annual Kidney Action Week®

From March 2-5, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) hosted its seventh annual Kidney Action Week®. It was another exciting week of informative and empowering sessions!

Each year, this free, virtual event during Kidney Month brings together members of the kidney community to learn from experts in the field and hear stories from people living with kidney disease. The theme of this year's Kidney Action Week was "Supporting you every step of the way: from diagnosis to transplant." Throughout the week, over 800 attendees heard from panelists on topics such as understanding the causes of kidney disease, kidney-friendly eating, preparing for a kidney transplant, and technology and kidney care. 

In addition to engaging sessions, attendees also had the chance to talk directly to kidney disease experts and each other throughout the week. On March 2, Kidney Action Week 2026 hosted its first-ever breakout sessions, creating sessions for: 

• People who are newly diagnosed or in the early stages of kidney disease
• People currently on dialysis
• Transplant recipients
• Caregivers or parents of children with kidney disease. 

Each breakout session was led by a patient advocate and created a space for participants to share their experiences and tips with others who are in the same part of their kidney disease journeys. Additionally, each day of Kidney Action Week 2026 featured live Q&A sessions with experts, including genetic counselors, renal dietitians, a transplant professional and AKF's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Pranav Garimella.

Did you miss Kidney Action Week 2026? We've got you covered! All recorded sessions can be found on AKF's YouTube channel. 

You can also find out more about the daily themes for Kidney Action Week 2026 below — along with a highlight from each day! 

Day 1: Your Diagnosis and First Steps

To kick off the week, Day 1 sessions focused on topics related to kidney disease diagnosis and first steps, such as understanding the causes of kidney disease and considering genetic testing.

During the first session of the day, Kidney Disease 101: Everything You Need to Know about Kidney Disease, Craig Merritt, a Kidney Health Coach® and the host of the Kidney Korner Podcast, and Dr. Julie Wright Nunes, a nephrologist (kidney doctor) at the University of Michigan, discussed the basics of kidney disease. 

Dr. Wright Nunes shared tips on what to do after receiving a new diagnosis: seek out education resources, ask your doctor lots of questions and plan next steps with your doctor. She also talked about the difference between a primary care doctor and a nephrologist and when you might need to get a referral for a nephrologist. 

Day 2: Managing Your Kidney Disease

The second day of Kidney Action Week highlighted ways to manage your kidney disease, with topics such as medicines for people with kidney disease and diabetes, managing complications of kidney disease and kidney-friendly eating.

During the Managing CKD Complications Through Nutrition session, Dr. Blake Shusterman, also known as "The Cooking Doc®," shared information about two potential complications of kidney disease — anemia and gout — and how certain medicines and kidney-friendly eating can help manage these complications. Later in the session, Areli Gutierrez, a renal (kidney) dietitian, talked about managing complications related to potassium and phosphorus. She stressed that each person's nutrition recommendations will be based on individual needs, including lab results, kidney function and other health problems, so it's important to work with a renal dietitian to find what works best for you.

Day 3: Considering Your Treatment Options for Kidney Failure

On Day 3 of Kidney Action Week, attendees learned about treatment options for kidney failure (when your kidneys are no longer working), including home dialysis and kidney transplantation.

In the Beyond the Transplant: Navigating Life After a Kidney Transplant session, AKF Ambassador, Patrick Gee, who also serves as a member of AKF's Board of Trustees, moderated a panel of transplant professionals as they discussed their role throughout the process. Starting with Dr. Samira Farouk, a transplant nephrologist at Mount Sinai, attendees learned more about the role of a transplant nephrologist, who Dr. Farouk called the "captain of the care team." Next, Hannah Graves, a transplant social worker, shared how she supports her patients throughout the entire transplant process and emphasized the importance of advocating for yourself. Finally, Walter Shutter, a transplant pharmacist, discussed how pharmacists play an important role in the transplant process and help guide patients on what medicines they will take after surgery.

Day 4: What's New in Kidney Disease?

The final day of Kidney Action Week centered on topics related to the latest advancements in kidney care, including a policy briefing that featured U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and a discussion about the future of innovations. Other sessions explained how technology can play a role in kidney care and the latest advances in managing glomerular kidney diseases.

During the Technology and Kidney Care: The Role of Telemedicine, Mobile Apps and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Managing Kidney Disease, three panelists shared how technology can be a helpful tool in your kidney disease journey. Dr. Delphine Tuot, a nephrologist at University of California at San Francisco's Zuckerburg San Francisco General Hospital, discussed the benefits of telehealth appointments and how to use your patient portal to communicate with your health care team quickly. Later in the session, two patient advocates, Elle Lee and Marc Coronel, talked about how they use technology to inform their kidney care. For example, Elle described the benefits of using a mobile app to track her symptoms and medicine changes between appointments. Marc shared how he uses AI to record his doctor visits to help him summarize the visit and remember next steps. Both Elle and Marc stressed the importance of using technology as a tool rather than a replacement for partnering with their health care team.
 

You can watch these sessions and more on AKF's YouTube channel. Thanks to all our panelists throughout the week for sharing their expertise and experience with the kidney community! 

Save the Date: The Future of Kidney Action Week

AKF is excited to announce that we're expanding our Kidney Action Week event to include a new fall event! Join us Sept. 8-10, 2026 for Kidney Action Week: Future of Kidney Care, a three-day virtual event focused on advancements, innovations and emerging topics in kidney care.

We also hope you'll join us next year for our spring Kidney Action Week in March 2027.

Kidney Action Week was made possible thanks to the support of Event Sponsors U.S. Renal Care, Track Sponsors Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Travere Therapeutics, and Session Sponsors Ardelyx, Inc and argenx US, Inc.