Jeremy and Drew Smith are brothers and best friends who do everything together, including kidney transplant surgery. Jeremy donated his #kidney to Drew last month, after a successful KidneyNation fundraising campaign that raised money for AKF's programs as a tribute to Drew before the surgery. READ MORE >>

LeighAnn's husband received a kidney transplant in 2011 and he has been living a pretty normal life since the surgery. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and their family. Read her story on fighting COVID-19 while protecting her immunocompromised husband from it READ MORE >>

With a long family history of diabetes, I’m sad to say that I wasn’t entirely surprised by my personal diagnosis in 2003. When thinking back to that year and everything that followed, the phrase “hindsight is 20/20” comes to mind. Why didn’t I take better care of my body knowing my family has a history of diabetes? How did I let my diabetes get so out of control? READ MORE >>

The KidneyX Innovation Accelerator announced Phase 1 of a new competition to push development of an artificial kidney toward human clinical trials. The goal is to focus on kidney replacements that will give patients options beyond dialysis. READ MORE >>

As a former chief hospital corpsman in the Navy, I didn’t expect to be on the receiving end of care. I was healthy my entire life—never in a million years did I think my kidneys would fail me, leaving my body desperately needing a transplant from a stranger. But these earth-shattering surprises did occur, not only to me, but to my husband as well. READ MORE >>

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) transformed the flagship event in our national screening program, Kidney Action Day, into a virtual Kidney Action Week last month. READ MORE >>

Amelia, 15, attended The Hope Affair in 2012 as that year's Calendar Kids Art Contest winner. She was inspired by the speeches she heard that night and vowed to fight kidney disease when she got older. Fast forward to 2020—Amelia is now an AKF Ambassador and she'll also be introducing this year's Calendar Kids Art Contest winner at The Hope Affair on Wednesday. READ MORE >>

About 1,500 babies are born with spina bifida each year in the U.S. 26% of them go on to develop kidney damage, and some later progress to kidney failure. Learn more about spina bifida's impact on the kidneys in a guest post from the Spina Bifida Association. READ MORE >>