The 24th Annual Meeting of the Glomerular Disease Collaborative Network (GDCN) convened last weekend in Chapel Hill, NC. The GDCN is a network of health care professionals and researchers that help recruit patents into a long-term registry that seeks to learn more about diseases that affect the filters (glomeruli) in the kidney.
Every year, GDCN members meet up for continuing education and to review ongoing and new studies involving patients with glomerular disease.
This featured topic this year was Diabetic Nephropathy, with guest speaker Dr. Katherine Tuttle, Research and Medical Director of the Providence Medical Research Center, updating the group on new approaches to treat diabetic nephropathy.
Dr. John Buse, Chief of the UNC Endicrinology Division gave a broad overview of diabetes management and new treatment guidelines and Dr. Charles Jennette spoke about the pathogenesis of the disease.
An interactive session was held Saturday afternoon in conjunction with the UNC Nephropathology Laboratory to discuss kidney biopsy cases with clinical and pathological correlations.
The GDCN is administered by the UNC Kidney Center and is co-directed by Drs. Ronald Falk and J. Charles Jennette. Research registries are coordinated by Susan Hogan, PhD (adult), and Debbie Gibson, MD (pediatric).