Kidney International (KI)  was the premier nephrology journal in the world from its first appearance in 1970, at least until JASN  ( Journal of the American Society of Nephrology) started publication in 1990. Nephrology Forum was first published in KI  in 1978 and became a high profile regular feature of the journal until it was discontinued in December 2005.

The scheme for Nephrology Forum was based on the concept of ‘grand rounds’ in which  discussion of a clinical case was the  basis for an expert review of the impact of current research perspectives on the clinical problem. The Forum was presented to a live audience and the published article included a transcript of the discussion which followed the presentation.

Nephrology Forum was developed and edited by nephrologists from Boston (Jerome Kassirer, John Harrington)   and Chicago (Jordan Cohen). Kassirer stood down when he became Editor in Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, and was replaced by Nicholas Madias (also of Boston).  In this era the Editor in Chief of KI always came from the United States. Thus it is not unexpected that the range of invited  discussants had a significant North American predominance (78%), 17% came from Europe, and  only 5% from the rest of the world. The preponderance of US discussants is also partly explained by the need to contain the cost of organising the necessary live presentations and discussions.

Nevertheless the UK ‘punched above its weight’ in Nephrology Forum, contributing 15 of the 59 invited from Europe.

They were:

Last Updated on August 5, 2024 by neilturn