American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week Care of Kidney Transplant Candidates and Recipients 2025

• Target Audience: nephrologists, transplant surgeons, physician‑scientists
• Sample video: contact me for sample video
• Information:

The Care of Kidney Transplant Candidates and Recipients was a full-day Early Program held immediately prior to the main ASN Kidney Week 2025 Scientific Exposition. This course was designed to bridge the operational and clinical gap between “general” nephrology and specialized “transplant” nephrology.

Held in Houston, the program utilized a case-based approach to address the entire continuum of transplant care—from the initial evaluation and waitlisting process to the long-term management of immunosuppression and graft surveillance. It acknowledged the workforce shortages in transplant medicine and focused on empowering general nephrologists to handle more of the pre- and post-transplant burden.

• What You Will Learn

The curriculum was practical and workflow-focused, aimed at clinicians who may not practice in a transplant center but manage these patients daily. Key learning outcomes included:

Evaluation Efficiency: Strategies to streamline the transplant workup and overcome barriers to listing (e.g., managing BMI limits or cardiac clearance).

The “Warm Hand-Off”: Best practices for transitioning care between the transplant center and the community nephrologist to prevent patients from “falling through the cracks.”

Immunosuppression Management: How to balance the risks of rejection (under-immunosuppression) vs. infection/malignancy (over-immunosuppression) in the long-term maintenance phase.

Living with an Allograft: Managing non-immunological complications such as post-transplant diabetes, bone disease, and cardiovascular risk reduction.

• Event Details

Event: Care of Kidney Transplant Candidates and Recipients (ASN Early Program)

Date: November 5, 2025 (Wednesday)

Location: Grand Ballroom A, George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, Texas, USA

Moderators: Vineeta Kumar, MD, FASN and Karin A. True, MD, FASN.

• Who Should Attend

General Nephrologists: Who manage patients on the waitlist or provide long-term post-transplant care in the community.

Transplant Coordinators & APPs: Who handle the logistical hurdles of the evaluation phase.

• Why Attend (or Watch)

Workforce Reality: The course explicitly addressed the “Workforce and Resource Limitations” currently facing nephrology, offering models for how generalists and specialists can co-manage patients to ensure access to care.

Faculty Expertise: The session was led by Dr. Vineeta Kumar, a leader in transplant education, ensuring that the content was not just theoretical but grounded in the operational realities of high-volume transplant centers.

Beyond the Surgery: Unlike surgical conferences, this course focused on the “Medical Home” for the transplant patient—keeping the patient healthy enough to get the organ, and keeping the organ healthy after they get it.

• Topics

Care of Kidney Transplant Candidates and Recipients

Block 1 – I Need a Kidney

Welcome and Introduction to the Case

Causes of ESKD and Their Impact on Kidney Transplant Evaluation – Dana V. Rizk

Strategies to Minimize Waiting Time for Kidney Transplantation – Syed Ali Husain

Pretransplant Cardiac Testing: When Less Is More – Samira S. Farouk

Moderated Discussion – 1 – Roy D. Bloom, Samira S. Farouk, Edmund Huang, Syed Ali Husain, Vineeta Kumar, Dana V. Rizk, Karin A. True

Minimizing Barriers for Kidney Transplant Candidates with Obesity – Edmund Huang

Effective Wait-List Management – Roy D. Bloom

Helping Kidney Transplant Candidates with Socioeconomic Barriers Find Solutions – Samira S. Farouk

Moderated Discussion – 2 – Roy D. Bloom, Samira S. Farouk, Edmund Huang, Syed Ali Husain, Vineeta Kumar, Karin A. True

Block 2 – The Main Event: The Early Days

Continuation of the Case – 1

Choosing Immunosuppression for Kidney Transplant Recipients – Alexander C. Wiseman

Early Recurrent Disease After Kidney Transplantation – Gaurav Gupta

Identifying and Treating Kidney Transplant Rejection – Roslyn B. Mannon

Moderated Discussion – 3 – Harini A. Chakkera, Samira S. Farouk, Gaurav Gupta, Vineeta Kumar, Roslyn B. Mannon, Karin A. True, Alexander C. Wiseman

Early and Delayed Kidney Graft Dysfunction – Harini A. Chakkera

Managing Outpatient Delayed Kidney Graft Function/Dialysis – Alexander C. Wiseman

Setting Up for Success at Discharge After Kidney Transplantation – Roy D. Bloom

Moderated Discussion – 4 – Rajendra S. Baliga, Roy D. Bloom, Harini A. Chakkera, Gaurav Gupta, Vineeta Kumar, Karin A. True, Alexander C. Wiseman

Block 3 – Late in the Game

Continuation of the Case – 2

Recurrent Disease and Monoclonal Gammopathies After Kidney Transplantation – Naoka Murakami

Management of Kidney Transplant Recipients by Local Nephrology Professionals – Rajendra S. Baliga

Challenges of Living Well with a Transplant: ‘The Quiet Burdens’ – Valen Elizabeth Keefer, Karin A. True

Moderated Discussion – 5 – Rajendra S. Baliga, Samira S. Farouk, Valen Elizabeth Keefer, Vineeta Kumar, Mary Moss Chandran, Naoka Murakami, Karin A. True

Block 4 – The Final Countdown

Continuation of the Case – 3

What to Do with a Failing Transplant – Naoka Murakami

Regulatory Updates – Roslyn B. Mannon

The Business of Transplantation – Harini A. Chakkera

Updates in Xenotransplantation – Vineeta Kumar

Moderated Discussion – 6 – Harini A. Chakkera, Syed Ali Husain, Vineeta Kumar, Roslyn B. Mannon, Naoka Murakami, Karin A. True