From October 24 to 27, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) hosted Kidney Week, the world's premier nephrology meeting, at the San Diego Convention Center in California. More than 13,000 leading kidney health professionals gathered to learn, network, and share the latest developments in kidney science. The meeting included plenary sessions, scientific exposition, poster presentations, and recorded presentations.

AIM-AHEAD West Hub personnel attended Kidney Week to support the Center for Kidney Disease Research, Education and Hope (CURE-CKD), West Hub's Consortium Development Project award team. CURE-CKD is a collaboration established to assess the incidence, prevalence, and care of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the UCLA and Providence healthcare systems.

On October 24, Katherine R. Tuttle, MD, FASN, FACP, FNKF, the Executive Director for Research at Providence Health Care, Regional Principal Investigator of the Institute of Translational Health Sciences, and Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington, presented on a study she co-authored, which addressed how incretin data, or "FLOW," will be utilized in clinical practice.

On October 25, during the Oral Abstract Sessions, Kiara Mayhand, MPH, a CURE-CKD trainee, presented the results of her study titled "Predictors of CKD Care in African American and American Indian or Alaska Native Patients in Two Large Health Systems," which aimed to describe clinical characteristics and assess the delivery of care to African Americans and American Indian Alaska Native patients with CKD.

AIM-AHEAD West Hub Staff and Leadership from the University of California, Los Angeles, participated in the ASN Kidney Week poster session on October 26. The CURE-CKD team presented a study using the CURE-CKD data registry: "Competing Kidney Failure and Death Risks by Baseline eGFR in Diabetes." They engaged with data engineers, physicians, and other professionals and shared their study aims, methods, results, and conclusions.

The poster session was an excellent opportunity for AIM-AHEAD West Hub and CURE-CKD to connect with healthcare practitioners, researchers, and other multidisciplinary professionals who are either involved in or are interested in employing artificial intelligence/machine learning technology for healthcare and biomedical research settings.

Also on October 26, Anna Zemke, MD, MS, Clinician Researcher at the University of Washington Medicine, Division of Nephrology, and CURE-CKD trainee, presented a study she co-authored, "Heart Failure Staging Guidelines in Adults with Chronic Kidney Disease," which aimed to determine the prevalence of heart failure and evaluate hospitalization rates in adults with chronic kidney disease. Zemke shared the study methods, main findings, and conclusions on staging guidelines for heart failure for adult patients with CKD.

Susanne B. Nicholas, MD, MPH, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine at UCLA in the Division of Nephrology and Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension, presented on improving representation in nephrology. Nicholas shared updates on recent federal efforts to diversify clinical trials and presented strategies for industry stakeholders and public agencies to participate in effective community engagement. She also engaged with the audience to discuss questions regarding inclusion in nephrology research.

Overall, the event was a fantastic opportunity for researchers and administrators from the CURE-CKD and AIM-AHEAD West Hub teams to present updates on recent research, share perspectives on treatment and therapy guidelines, and engage with audience members to discuss health equity and representation in the field of nephrology.