Dr. Joseph V. Bonventre

December 7, 2010

ASN WELCOMES NEW PRESIDENT DURING RENAL WEEK 2010

The American Society of Nephrology welcomed its new president, Joseph V. Bonventre, MD, PhD, FASN of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, as well as its new president-elect, Ronald J. Falk, MD, FASN, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, during its recent 43rd annual meeting, which was part of Renal Week 2010, in Denver, CO.

Dr. Bonventre has a long history with ASN. He first attended an ASN annual meeting in 1981, and served as a Council member for four years and as president-elect the past year. He also recently led the efforts to rebrand the Society, with the development of a new logo and related materials.

In the coming year, Dr. Bonventre said, one of his priorities will be to lead ASN into a more proactive role in the public forum. “The organization will serve its membership and kidney patients most effectively if the general population learns more about the importance and prevalence of kidney disease.” He will also focus on the pending shortage of nephrologists. “It’s critically important to get more people interested in working on the kidney and treating patients with kidney disease. I think we have only scratched the surface in thinking about innovative ways to address that challenge.”

Dr. Bonventre studies the mechanisms of cellular and tissue injury and repair in the kidney, with particular emphasis on inflammation, biomarkers, stem cells and the determinants of abnormal repair leading to chronic kidney disease.

Dr. Falk focuses on immune mediated kidney diseases, especially glomerulonephritis. His clinical and basic science interests include both ANCA glomerulonephritis and small vessel vasculitis (SVV). A central objective of his research is elucidating the causes of ANCA-associated necrotizing and crescentic glomerulonephritis.

Outgoing ASN president Sharon Anderson, MD, FASN, of the Oregon Health and Science University, said, “I’m looking forward to seeing where Dr. Bonventre takes the organization during the next year. “This is a very exciting, and challenging, time for the field of nephrology, and I’m confident that Dr. Bonventre will lead us into some interesting new initiatives.” During Dr. Anderson’s tenure, ASN embarked on a major strategic planning initiative, bought a new building, and helped the nephrology community develop a disaster infrastructure. The new Kidney Community Emergency Response Coalition, which met at Renal Week 2009, was ready to respond when the earthquake struck Haiti earlier this year.

Founded in 1966 and comprised of more than 12,000 members, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) leads the fight against kidney disease by educating health professionals, sharing new knowledge, advancing research, and advocating the highest quality care for patients.