ERA General Assembly

As an Ordinary Council Member of the ERA, I will support the Society with my background in both clinical nephrology and basic research area, as well as, with my constant true enthusiasm. Among others, I would like to get involved in drawing more attention in the implementation into clinical practise current methods of prevention of CKD progression. Recently, I took part in the preparation of Polish guidelines on the issue of nephroprotection. I will promote the organisation by ERA webinars and courses for not only nephrologists but of general practitioners and internal medicine specialists focused on nephroprotection (among others in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and also in the local languages). Moreover, I would like to promote the initiatives of funding ERA grants which allow to study nephroprotection with not very obvious measures (for example: plant enriched diet or avoiding energy drinks consumption) and also within specific populations with special needs (for example: refugees or patients with severe mental disorders). During my activities in the scientific committees of ERA congresses 2024 and 2026 I make every effort to ensure gender equity in the distribution of the ERA invited speakers. As Ordinary Council Member I will be sensitive for every issue related to gender imbalances. Because of my nationality and country of residence I well understand the problems concerning nephrological community in Central, Eastern Europe and Balkan countries. In the natural way I will represents the point of views of nephrologists from this part of Europe in the ERA Council. In Poland, when preparing the scientific programme of annual congresses of Polish Society of Nephrology, some invited lecturers (usually 3 person) are proposed completely independently by Young Nephrological Club from theirs members. This allow to effectively promote representatives of young nephrologist. A similar model (with the activity of Young Nephrologist Platform) can be used during preparation of future ERA congresses scientific programme. And last but not least, I would like to promote some important initiatives of our society that can preserve nephrological identity and enable the study of the roots of our scientific discipline, namely cooperation with the International Association for the History of Nephrology (IAHN). It is always good, looking to the future, do not forget the past.

ERA is the key organization within Europe to further develop and support activities in nephrology. Kidney disease is a world-wide main problem, which is not as visible as compared to CV-diseases and cancer. But the future of nephrology is bright since we have more and more options to improve the outcome of our patients with kidney diseases. We need to use this momentum to act and increase the visibility of nephrology in Europe and across the globe. We need nephrological screening programs established to detect kidney diseases as early as possible. GPs need to be educated and the patient’s way to nephrologists need to be clarified and simplified. Furthermore, we need to educate our future nephrologists on the one hand in clinical skills, but also in science. We need more clinician scientists in nephrology to make the next steps in development of new therapies for our patients. Finally, it will be important to support especially women in nephrology since we are still underrepresented as leading nephrologists. We need to find solutions to support them especially in times when they start their independency which often coincidences with starting a family. ERA has the power to act on all points outlined above to improve the visibility of nephrology within Europe and as a Council Member I would try to bring in my expertise to achieve these goals.

Being an active clinician and University teacher, as well as, actively involved in the Greek Society of Nephrology (Secretary General), the ISN (chair of the World Kidney Day Steering Committee), the BANTAO (Balkan Cities Association of Nephrology Transplantation and Artificial Organs, where I served as president for a one-year term) and ERA (member of the board of the EUDIAL working group and the Scientific Advisory Board – SAB) I believe that I have the required experience for asking your support for the current elections for ordinary Council members. As a Nephrologist I have had the chance to participate in numerous international collaborations and international exchange programs and as a teacher I have had the opportunity to interact with young people (medical students and nephrology trainees) and to share with them our vision, anxiety, ideas, ambition and commitment to hard work and medicine. The Council has among others a challenging task to make nephrology an attractive specialty for young doctors and I am committed to achieving this. Europe in the modern era is a paradigm of diversity, inclusion, friendship, and progress. Especially in the field of Medicine, sharing of knowledge and collaboration between experts are essential towards our continuous struggle for advancements in the care and wellbeing of our patients. In the era of multidisciplinary approach to health and disease, a cross-talk between nephrologists, other doctors, healthcare scientists and the general public is essential for the promotion of awareness for kidney disease, application of new treatments and progress of research in our field. In the last years ERA has grown in numbers and efficiency and is the leading nephrology association with a central role in the progress of Nephrology. The effort, commitment and hard work of all past Council and working groups members has to be recognized but mostly continued and enhanced. Thus, through my own experiences, as a potential future member of the ERA Council, I hope to be able to promote education, scientific and research collaboration, dissemination of knowledge and interaction all over our members. Further standardization of practices and novel treatments, development and application of guidelines, increase in public awareness as well as co-operation with policy makers are essential for the progress of Nephrology and ERA. In any case, with your support, I promise to work hard towards continuing all great efforts that have been made in the past and an even brighter future of our Association. 

I propose my application as an Italian member of the ERA Council to be actively involved in planning strategies aimed at highlighting the relevance of Nephrologists and improving the care of our patients. During the last years, we are facing a true epidemic of CKD impacting dramatically on lives of our patients but also on health expenditures in all European Countries. I strongly believe that adequate prevention, effective screening strategies and the wider adoption of new effective nephroprotective treatments may contribute to make inevitable decreasing the clinic and economic burden of renal diseases. ERA should have a leading role in this process that must be implemented with a strict synergy with all the National nephrology Societies in order to effectively translate these strategies in Countries with different healthcare systems, workforce and organization: This would likely ensure the access to the innovative care to the large majority of European patients. Process measures and process outcomes are two critical steps for deciding on which aspects the care of our patients should be focused. On this regard, one of my objectives will be to increase and optimize the cooperation between Italian Society of Nephrology and ERA Dialysis Registry to ensure that the large majority of Italian Regions will provide the epidemiologic data of Italian patients undergoing RRT. A critical point relates to educational activities of ERA. I believe that ERA must be strongly involved in the formation of nephrologists of third millennium who are prone to embrace a change of paradigm focused at preventing rather than replacing the renal function of our patients.

Two topics have been the key driving force for me over the last decade. Firstly, this was my focus on research in translational nephrology to move knowledge on molecular mechanisms in kidney disease towards the actual patient setting through the collaborative work of both basic science and clinical research teams. Secondly, contributing to the development of the European kidney disease community and providing guidance to the field was a central interest to my work. The role as Chair of the Working Group Genes&Kidney provided me with a great opportunity to fulfil such a role and learn about the potential of ERA as a central driving force of European Nephrology (and beyond). I would now like to continue these efforts in the new role as Ordinary Council member and contribute to the future of ERA. In this regard, I will focus on the following key assets: (1) Developing European nephrology towards targeted and pathomechanism-based personalized medicine ranging from dietary interventions all the way to xenotransplantation and gene therapeutics. Recent advances in novel therapeutics have paved the way to fundamentally change how we treat our patients. I am convinced that nephrology should become a key field in this regard and that ERA is the pivotal player to guide this development and represent the urgent need in kidney disease towards all stakeholders. These efforts will make a major contribution to the transition of nephrology towards a discipline leading the way in tailored and individualized patient care. (2) This development will greatly depend on education and guidance for the field. ERA has played a central role in this regard over the last decades and I am convinced that this role will get even more important in the future. Consequently, it is a heartfelt need to further develop the educational role of ERA. This also includes the specific challenge of increasing the inclusion of currently underrepresented countries/regions and equal availability of upcoming treatment options. ERA is the key player in these aspects and its efforts are crucial to prepare the European kidney disease community for the future, in close interaction with its international partners.