Overview

This 3-day online course will give you an understanding of the interaction of infectious disease and the kidney as well as some of the specific nephrology challenges in low and middle-income settings.

Through a mixture of informal lectures, case discussions and workshops you will cover both the major infectious diseases that result in renal disease and how these can be managed as well as addressing key non-infectious diseases and environmental factors that affect the burden and management of kidney disease around the world.

Course content includes lectures on:

• The renal consequences of infection with bacteria, viruses, and other micro-organisms.
• The challenges faced by patients with kidney disease facing Covid-19 and antibiotic-resistant infection.
• The delivery of renal care, including dialysis, transplantation, and palliative care in resource poor environments.
• The common non-infectious causes of kidney disease in low-income settings including diabetes, hypertension, endemic CKD, and renal injury associated with toxins and pregnancy.
• The impact and mitigation of the changing environment on kidney disease and infection.

There are workshops/ breakout sessions focused on infectious disease case discussions, the ethical dilemmas in delivering kidney care in low-income countries and conducting research in partnership with communities and researchers based in resource poor regions.

Who this course is for

The course is designed for:

• nephrologists
• infectious disease specialists
• general medicine trainees
• consultants
• renal nursing staff

Course content and structure

You can attend, one, two or three days. The course will be held on Zoom.

The course involves a combination of lectures and case-based discussions/workshops.

Day one

• Impact of the pandemic on global kidney care
• Responses to vaccination against SARS-CoV2 in patients with kidney disease
• Covid treatments as applied to the renal population
• Lived experience of patients with kidney disease in the context of the pandemic
• Fever cases workshop
• Pathophysiology of sepsis induced acute kidney injury (AKI)
• Kidney disease in pregnancy
• Phytotoxins (including aristolochia)
• HIV and the kidney
• Keynote Lecture The role of international organisations in improving kidney care around the world

Day two

• Global kidney injury 1: Glomerular nephritis and infection
• Global kidney injury 2: Tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN) (drugs and infection)
• Acute kidney injury workshop
• Transplantation in lower income countries
• Renal replacement therapy for end stage kidney disease in lower income countries
• Climate impact on kidney disease
• Toxins (snakebite, animal stings etc)
• Keynote lecture: Genetics of kidney disease in Africa

Day three

• Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Aetiology (CKDu)
• Direction infections 1: Schistosomiasis
• Direct infections 2: TB
• Resistant bloodstream infections in hospitalised patients in Malawi – implications for a global AMR strategy
• Green dialysis and sustainability
• Ethics/research workshop
• Testing for kidney disease in sub-Saharan Africa
• Médecins Sans Frontières
• Palliative care in lower income countries
• Keynote lecture: Global perspective of kidney disease

Certificates and accreditation

CPD credit to be confirmed by the UK Royal College of Physicians (UKRCP). Previous courses have been awarded 12 category 1 (external) CPD credits.

You will receive a Certificate of Attendance.

Learning outcomes

The course will help you:

• gain up-to-date knowledge of developments in the relationship between infection and kidney disease
• develop a familiarity with the latest management strategies in infection-related kidney disease
• recognise how the causes, consequences and management of kidney disease differ between high-income and low-income regions of the world
• gain insight into the important non-communicable causes of kidney disease in low- and middle-income countries
• acquire a practical understanding of the challenges associated with delivering renal replacement therapy in low-income settings
• critically reflect on the social, environmental, ethical and logistical factors associated with the burden and management of kidney disease in low-income regions

Costs and concessions

The fees for a single day are as follows:

• SpR / trainee grade: £50
• Consultant: £60

The fees for two days are:

• SpR / trainee grade: £75
• Consultant: £85

The fees for three days are:

• SpR / trainee grade: £100
• Consultant: £120
• NHS Renal health care professionals e.g. Clinical Nurse Specialists: £50
• Delegates from Lower and Middle Income Countries (LMIC): £15*

*To be eligible for the LMIC fee rate you should be working or studying at an institution in one of the countries listed here. This is a list of countries with low-income or middle-income economies. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) compiles this information and revises it every three years.

Registration fee includes:

• Access to the virtual course to view the presentations on Zoom and join the breakout room workshop sessions. You will have the opportunity to put questions to the speakers
• Post-course access to the video content (pre-registered delegates only). The content will be available from approximately 2 weeks after the course end date
• Attendance Certificate (provided by email to those who attend the course).

Please note that anyone wishing to access the video content afterwards must pre-register before the course takes place.

Course team

Sanjay Bhagani

Sanjay is a Consultant Physician in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine at the Royal Free Hospital and an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Infectious Diseases/HIV Medicine at UCL. He was born and brought up in Kenya and completed his undergraduate training in medicine at the University of Leicester, School of Medicine, UK. He has a particular interest in managing viral hepatitis in the context of HIV co-infection and leads a large tertiary referral multi-disciplinary team specialising in viral hepatitis/HIV co-infection management.

Ben Caplin

Ben is Senior Lecturer in Nephrology at the UCL Department of Renal Medicine and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at the Royal Free Hospital. His research interests include the progression and vascular complications of chronic kidney disease using both population-based, translational and experimental approaches. He has a specific research focus on global endemic nephropathies and is Principal Investigator of a cohort study investigating the aetiology of the expanding epidemic Mesoamerican Nephropathy in North West Nicaragua.

Ian Cropley

Ian is a Consultant in Infectious Diseases and HIV at the Royal Free Hospital. He has a special interest in tuberculosis. He studied pre-clinical medicine at the University of Cambridge and complete his initial clinical training at The London Hospital Medical College. He then pursued post-qualification training in infectious diseases at various specialist units in London.

Dr Gavin Dreyer

Gavin is a Consultant Nephrologist and Acute Physician at Whipps Cross Hospital, London and a former Lecturer in Medicine, Malawi College of Medicine. He moved to Malawi in October 2010 and, at the time, was the only nephrologist in the country. He worked with and trained local Malawian staff, helping develop and maintain a comprehensive nephrology service. This service now covers adult and paediatric renal disease, providing inpatient and outpatient care at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi.

Dr Rhys Evans

Rhys is a Nephrology Registrar on the North Thames rotation with an interest in Global Nephrology. He recently spent a year working in Malawi, running the renal service at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre. He was the Principal Investigator of the Malawi Acute Kidney Injury Study (mAKIst), the most comprehensive prospective study of Sub-Sahara African AKI.

Dr Sally Hamour

Sally is an NHS Consultant Nephrologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer at UCL. She has a PhD in immunology and an interest in immunologically-mediated renal disease, particularly SLE and vasculitis. She also maintains an interest in infection and global health, with a diploma in tropical medicine and hygiene and has previously worked for Médecins sans Frontières in South Sudan.

Dr Mark Harber

Mark is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the UCL Department of Renal Medicine, Royal Free and Consultant Nephrologist at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. He has a specialist interest in transplantation. His research interests include the immune system, infectious diseases and transplantation, urinary tract infection and acute kidney injury.

Course information last modified: 1 Feb 2023, 16:07