Involving Patient Partners in the KRESCENT Peer Review: Intent, Process, Challenges, and Opportunities.

Purpose Of Review: The Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training (KRESCENT) is a national Canadian training program for kidney scientists, funded by the Kidney Foundation of Canada (KFOC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Canadian Society of Nephrology (CSN). We describe our first year of incorporating patient partners into a scientific peer-review committee, the 2017 committee to select senior research trainees and early-career kidney researchers for funding and training, in the hope that it will be helpful to others who wish to integrate the perspective of people with lived experience into the peer-review process.

Sources Of Information: Other peer-review committees, websites, journal articles, patient partners, Kidney Foundation of Canada Research Council, Canadians Seeking Solutions and Innovations to Overcome Chronic Kidney Disease (Can-SOLVE CKD) Patient Council, participants in the 2017 Kidney Foundation of Canada KRESCENT peer-review panel.

Program Report: Can-SOLVE CKD Network Presents an Inclusive Method for Developing Patient-Oriented Research Tools.

Purpose Of Program: Given the growing interest in patient-oriented research (POR) initiatives, there is a need to provide relevant training and education on how to engage with patients as partners on research teams.

Sources Of Information: As part of its mandate to develop appropriate training materials, the patient-oriented renal research network, Canadians Seeking Solutions and Innovations to Overcome Chronic Kidney Disease (Can-SOLVE CKD), established a training and Mentorship Committee (TMC).

Methods: The committee brings together a unique combination of Indigenous and non-Indigenous patient partners (including caregivers, family members, and living donors), researchers, as well as patient engagement and knowledge translation experts, combining a multitude of perspectives and expertise.

Training Programs for Fundamental and Clinician-Scientists: Balanced Outcomes for Graduates by Gender.

Background: Women scientists are less likely to obtain Assistant Professorship and achieve promotion, and obtain less grant funding than men. Scientist/clinician-scientist training programs which provide salary awards as well as training and mentorship are a potential intervention to improve outcomes among women scientists. We hypothesized whether a programmatic approach to scientist/clinician-scientist training is associated with improved outcomes for women scientists in Canada when compared with salary awards alone.

Program Report: KidneyPRO, a Web-based Training Module for Patient Engagement in Kidney Research.

Purpose Of Report: Over the recent years, there has been increasing support and traction for patient-oriented research (POR). Such an approach ensures that health research is focused on what matters most: improving outcomes for patients. Yet the realm of health research remains enigmatic for many patients in Canada who are not familiar with research terms and practices, highlighting the need for focused capacity-building efforts, including the development of novel educational tools to support patients to meaningfully engage in the research enterprise.

Cultivating Innovative Pragmatic Cluster-Randomized Registry Trials Embedded in Hemodialysis Care: Workshop Proceedings From 2018.

Hemodialysis is a life-sustaining treatment for persons with kidney failure. However, those on hemodialysis still face a poor quality of life and a short life expectancy. High-quality research evidence from large randomized controlled trials is needed to identify interventions that improve the experiences, outcomes, and health care of persons receiving hemodialysis.

Canadians Seeking Solutions and Innovations to Overcome Chronic Kidney Disease (Can-SOLVE CKD): Form and Function.

Purpose Of Review: This article serves to describe the Can-SOLVE CKD network, a program of research projects and infrastructure that has excited patients and given them hope that we can truly transform the care they receive.

Issue: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a complex disorder that affects more than 4 million Canadians and costs the Canadian health care system more than $40 billion per year. The evidence base for guiding care in CKD is small, and even in areas where evidence exists, uptake of evidence into clinical practice has been slow.

The KRESCENT Program (2005-2015): An Evaluation of the State of Kidney Research Training in Canada.

Background: The Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training (KRESCENT) Program was launched in 2005 to enhance kidney research capacity in Canada and foster knowledge translation across the 4 themes of health research.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of KRESCENT on its major objectives and on the careers of trainees after its first 10 years.

Methods: An online survey of trainees (n = 53) who had completed or were enrolled in KRESCENT was conducted in 2015.

Determining the research priorities for patients with chronic kidney disease not on dialysis.

Background: The importance of engaging key stakeholders, and patients in particular, in determining research priorities has been recognized. We sought to identify the top 10 research priorities for patients with non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD), their caregivers, and the clinicians and policy-makers involved in their care.

Methods: We used the four-step James Lind Alliance process to establish the top 10 research priorities.

Compulsory licensing in Canada and Thailand: comparing regimes to ensure legitimate use of the WTO rules.

This paper examines two recent examples of compulsory licensing legislation: one globally embraced regime and one internationally controversial regime operating under the same WTO rules. In particular, we consider Canadian legislation and the use of compulsory licensing for HIV/AIDS drugs destined for a developing country. This is then contrasted with the conditions under which Thai authorities are pursuing compulsory licenses, the outcomes of their compulsory licenses, as well as the likely impact of the Thai policy.