25 People Win the KidneyX Patient Innovator Challenge with Ideas to Improve Patients Lives

 

March 26, 2020, New York, NY— The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and National Kidney Foundation (NKF) announced today that 25 innovators have been selected as winners in two categories of the first-ever KidneyX: Patient Innovator Challenge, funded by NKF.

 

The winners will be announced at NKF’s 2020 Spring Clinical Meetings held this year as a Live-Virtual Meeting due to the COVID-19 outbreak This necessary change will help ensure the safety of our patients, staff, volunteers and conference participants while still enabling NKF to provide the high-quality content SCM is known for in a new live-virtual format. 

 

Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Eric Hargan, will announce the winners and deliver the keynote address at the Plenary Session on March 26^th, held from 2:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  The Deputy Secretary will speak from 3:30PM to 4:00PM Central time/4:30PM to 5:00PM Eastern Time. A recording of his speech will be made available on the Spring Clinical Meeting website. 

 

The KidneyX: Patient Innovator Challenge contest invited individuals, communities, businesses, institutions, and not-for-profit organizations, among others, to submit ideas on how to improve therapeutic options and quality of life for people living with kidney diseases. The winning ideas include supporting home dialysis; monitoring devices and apps for patients with kidney failure; educational materials and online platforms; help for people with transplants; and peer support groups.

 

A panel of judges and reviewers spent months reviewing the more than 120 submissions to select 10 winners in Category 1 – solutions already tried or put into practice – and 15 winners in Category 2 – ideas for solutions not yet created.

 

The KidneyX: Patient Innovator Challenge is part of the Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX) umbrella, which seeks to accelerate products focused on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment across the spectrum of kidney care.

 

“We are so excited to fund the KidneyX: Patient Innovator Challenge and honor those who have not only tried to build a better mousetrap, but are willing to share their ideas with other patients and clinicians,” said NKF CEO Kevin Longino, who is also a kidney transplant recipient. “I know that these novel workarounds will help other patients live better lives and with proper investment can help advance kidney care overall.”

 

 

“Patients know best how kidney diseases affect them and what tools could lessen the impact of kidney disease on their lives,” said John R. Sedor, MD, FASN, KidneyX Steering Committee Chair. “The KidneyX Patient Innovator Challenge taps this rich resource of new ideas from the patients and caregivers, who face the burdens of kidney diseases every day. The winning projects generate solutions for some of the issues most vexing to patients, which can positively impact millions of lives, and highlights KidneyX’s commitment to bringing patient-focused innovations to improve the lives of patients and their caregivers.”  

 

The winners of Category 1, which are solutions tried or already put into practice, are: 

 

The winners of Category 2, which are solutions not yet in practice, are: 

 

Submissions were accepted August 1, 2019, through September 16, 2019, and patients and care partners among others were encouraged to apply to share their best ideas and innovations. The 10 winners in Category 1 will receive $4,000 each, and the 15 winners in Category 2 will receive $2,000.  All winning Category 1 and Category 2 submissions will be featured on KidneyX.org. 

 

In the United States, 37 million adults are estimated to have chronic kidney disease—and more than 90 percent are unaware they have it.  1 in 3 American adults are at risk for chronic kidney disease.  Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and family history. People of African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian or Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease. African Americans are 3 times more likely than Whites, and Hispanics are nearly 1.5 times more likely than non-Hispanics to develop end-stage renal disease (kidney failure).

 

The Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX) is a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) to accelerate innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases. KidneyX seeks to improve the lives of the 850,000,000 people worldwide currently affected by kidney diseases by accelerating the development of drugs, devices, biologics and other therapies across the spectrum of kidney care including prevention, diagnostics, and treatment.

 

Building off the success of similar public-private accelerators, KidneyX will engage a community of researchers, innovators, and investors to bring breakthrough therapies to patients through a series of prize competitions. ASN and HHS leaders are overseeing KidneyX's efforts to accelerate the pace of innovation in the development of disruptive approaches to kidney care and the development of new medical products, leading to solutions that will improve the lives of the millions of people worldwide affected by kidney diseases.. We hope you will consider joining us in this effort. For more information about KidneyX prize competitions, please visit www.kidneyx.org and follow @Kidney_X on Twitter.

 

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) enhances and protects the health and well-being of all Americans. HHS fulfills that mission by providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services. For more information visit www.hhs.gov.

 

Since 1966, ASN has been leading the fight to prevent, treat, and cure kidney diseases throughout the world by educating health professionals and scientists, advancing research and innovation, communicating new knowledge, and advocating for the highest quality care for patients. ASN has more than 21,000 members representing 131 countries. For more information, please visit www.asn-online.org or contact the society at 202-640-4660.

 

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is the largest, most comprehensive, and longstanding patient-centric organization dedicated to the awareness, prevention, and treatment of kidney disease in the U.S. For more information about NKF, visit www.kidney.org. 

 

For the past 28 years, nephrology healthcare professionals from across the country have come to NKF’s Spring Clinical Meetings to learn about the newest developments related to all aspects of nephrology practice; network with colleagues; and present their research findings. The NKF Spring Clinical Meetings are designed for meaningful change in the multidisciplinary healthcare teams’ skills, performance, and patient health outcomes. It is the only conference of its kind that focuses on translating science into practice for the entire healthcare team.  This year’s Spring Clinical Meetings will be a Live-Virtual Meeting due to the COVID-19 outbreak.