UC Marks World Kidney Day With Big Ask: Big Give Workshop

In observance of World Kidney Day, University of Cincinnati Medical Center (UCMC) is partnering with the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) to host a Big Ask: Big Give donor education workshop on March 8 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the transplant conference room 7167 in UCMC. This is the second in a planned series of five local workshops designed to help kidney patients find a living donor. 

"There are currently around 100,000 people on the kidney transplant wait list in US and only less than 20,000 patients get transplanted each year,” says Amit Govil, MD, professor and chief of the Transplant Section in the Division of Nephrology Kidney CARE program and chair of the NKF Cincinnati Board. "Only one-fourth of those 20,000 kidney transplants are from living donors and there is much more that can be done to increase living donation and help our patients on the waitlist who are dying every day waiting for a transplant. The UC Medical Center Kidney Transplant Program is celebrating 50 years of kidney transplant and we have a great transplant team with excellent results which make us one of the leaders in the field. With various innovative measures, we have been able to increase the volume of living donation and keep kidney donation process very safe.”

The workshop is open to everyone—from those currently on the waitlist, to those approaching the waitlist, to those considering saving the life of a family member, friend, colleague or neighbor through living kidney donation. "Participants will learn the best, most effective strategies and tips for finding a living kidney donor,” Govil adds.

"This collaboration between UC and the NKF brings a unique opportunity to kidney patients, their friends and family members to participate in an interactive education about living kidney donation and transplant,” says Charuhas Thakar, MD, professor and director of the Division of Nephrology, Kidney CARE Program in the Department of Internal Medicine at the UC College of Medicine. "As one of the largest transplant nephrology sections in the region, with talented faculty trained at top-notch institutions in the country, we are committed to bringing cutting-edge advances in transplant medicine to the patient’s bedside at UC.” 

To register for the free workshop, please visit www.kidney.org/BABGCincy.