It’s Episode 17 of The Nephron Segment and it's time for NephMadness! Join us as we chat with NephMadness writers Dr. Steven Clapp & Dr. Alyssa Steitz, and Director of Rare Genetic Kidney Diseases at the University of Alabama Birmingham, Dr. Eric Wallace. We discuss the fierce NephMadness 2026 Genetics Region competitors: Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Masqueraders & Fabry Treatment. How can we spot the PKD wanna-bes? What's new in the treatment of Fabry disease? And how do you say Fabry? Fab-ray? Fab-ree?

Listen to the end to hear everyone's picks for NephMadness 2026. Before you make your picks, check out the Genetics Region scouting report here. Or flip a coin or pick your favorite region image.

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

Nephrons: Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests: Steven Clapp, Alyssa Steitz, Eric Wallace

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

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

In Episode 12, Dr. William Cushman, co-investigator of the 2015 SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention) Trial, joins us for a discussion all about hypertension trials, their long history, and what's ahead for research in this space. Too young to remember SPRINT or looking for a "CliffsNotes" of HTN trials? This episode's for you!

Here's a Renal Fellow Network post from 2017 with a link to a cheat sheet of hypertension clinical trial.

Nephrons: Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests: William Cushman, Medical Director & Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee

Links from the Show:

00:41: Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (2015)

02:17: VA Cooperative Study (1967)

05:13: ACCORD Study (2010)

06:30: SPRINT MIND (2019)

08:40: Framingham Heart Study (Started 1948)

11:27: Attended vs. unattended blood pressure – learnings beyond SPRINT (2021)

14:03: Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program Study (1989)

14:05: Hypertension Detection & Follow Up Program (1979)

15:32: JNC 8 Guidelines (2014)

16:01 AHA/ACC Guidelines (2017)

17:54: Syst-Eur (Treatment of HTN in Patients > 60 y, 1998)

17:54: HYVET (Treatment of HTN in Patients > 80 y, 2008)

18:01: Syst-China (2000)

22:18: AAFP HTN Guidelines (2022)

22:40: KDIGO HTN Guidelines (2021)

25:37: ALLHAT Study (2002)

32:22: Secondary Prevention of Small Subcortical Strokes Trial (SPS3, 2013)

In Episode 11, guests Jordy Cohen & Samir Parikh (and members of the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week Education Committee) join us for a discussion about Kidney Week 2023 and their careers as physician-scientists. They discuss their journeys to their current careers, what inspired them to pursue nephrology ("beautiful ribbons of anti-GBM"), and share their advice for trainees. 

For more on Kidney Week 2023, here's a Doximity op-ed.

Nephrons: Matthew Sparks, Samira Farouk

Guests: Jordy Cohen, Samir Parikh

Links from the Show:

02:03: PLA2R & Membranous Nephropathy (2009)

04:03: Sflt-1

05:05: FLOW & GLP-1

05:55: ACC HTN Guidelines (2017)

09:33: Bill McKibben Plenary: Too Hot & Inhuman Temperatures

10:45: Climate change & heat stress nephropathy

11:00: Ardem Patapoutian Plenary: How Do You Feel? The Molecules that Sense Touch

13:03: Obesity & RAS Activation (Mice)

Episode 10: Green Nephrology (April 20, 2023)

On Episode 10, we celebrate Earth Day with guests Dr. Katherine Barraclough & Dr. Megha Salani who share with us the startling amount of waste that both hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis generate, what climate change means for kidney disease, and what we can do to protect our planet and "go green." They also share how they became interested in the burgeoning field of green nephrology, in addition to the considerable carbon footprint associated with KRT. We delved into the pathogenesis of heat induced kidney injury and how climate change is now considered a public health emergency. 

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

Guests: Katherine Barraclough, Megha Salani

NephMadness 2020: Green Nephrology Region

NephMadness 2020: The Time for Nephrologists to Tackle Climate Change is Now

Links from the Show:

03:57 Waste associated with hemodialysis treatments 

04:31 Carbon footprint generated by plastic waste in dialysis units

05:34 Pursuing environmentally conscious dialysis 

09:43 Innovative solutions to recycle plastic generated from treatments

10:56 Climate change and chronic kidney disease

11:10-Association between high temperature and acute kidney injury

12:21 Climate change: A Public Heath Emergency

13:08 Climate related increase in kidney stones

16:22 Solar power assisted dialysis 

17:02 Incorporating training in environmental sustainability in medical education

21:07 The ISN Green Nephrology Initiative