FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MEDIA CONTACT: July 7, 2020 Jennifer Duplessie
Marketing and Communications Manager(813) 400-2394 jduplessie@aakp.org TOP KIDNEY GROUP DROPS REGISTRATION FEES FOR 2020 VIRTUAL EVENTS Largest Patient Group in USA Announces its “AAKP…It’s on Us!” Initiative Washington, D.C.: The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP), the largest kidney patient organization in America and the independent voice for kidney patients, announced today the launch of its “AAKP…It’s on Us!” initiative which waives registration fees for all 2020 AAKP virtual events. The strategic action was taken to increase patient and kidney professional access to some of the top experts on coronavirus and kidney disease as well as leaders in policy and treatment innovations.
“During these unprecedented times, as kidney patients, we understand the difficulties professionals and patients across the nation are enduring. AAKP firmly believes timely and high-quality health care education should be immediately accessible to frontline professionals and the patients they protect. We thank our donors and sponsors across the globe for their generosity in allowing us to provide this service and expertise to all who are interested,” Richard Knight stated, AAKP president and 14-year kidney transplant recipient. Knight is involved in multiple kidney collaboratives and serves on the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH/NIDDK) as the co-chair of the Community Engagement Committee for Kidney Precision Medicine Program (KPMP). Recently, he has become more engaged in providing strategies to industry partners in increasing minority participation in clinical trials.
- AAKP 2nd Annual Global Summit: Global Kidney Innovations – Expanding Patient Choices & Outcomes, hosted July 16-17, 2020. Co-hosted by AAKP and the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences. This event features experts on COVID-19 with direct experience managing disease impacts among kidney patients, as well as leading influencers for innovations in kidney disease detection, treatment, and devices. For additional details, the
summit agenda, and to register for this virtual event, click here. The event is currently sponsored by Amgen, Inc., CareDx, Inc., Natera, Outset Medical, and Retrophin. For information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact Erin Kahle, ekahle@aakp.org. The 2019 Global Summit attracted a worldwide audience of over 10,000 viewers across more than 50 countries.
- AAKP 3rd Annual Washington, D.C., Public Policy Summit, hosted August 6, 2020. The event will review top kidney policy issues under discussion in the nation’s capital – including a review of the progress and pushback associated with the bipartisan July 2019 Executive Order on Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative. The Executive Order is the first chapter in what AAKP has called The Decade of the KidneyTM – a period in which status quo kidney care will end and patient consumers and their innovation allies will drive wider care choice and treatment options that align with patient aspirations. For additional details and to register for this virtual event, click here. Current event sponsors include Amgen, Inc., Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, Bayer, CareDx, Inc., Horizon Therapeutics, and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. For information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact Erin Kahle, ekahle@aakp.org. AAKP 45th Annual National Patient Meeting: Patient Voice, Patient Choice hosted September 11-12, 2020. AAKP’s National Patient Meeting is the largest kidney patient meeting in America. The event features a diverse lineup of speakers crossing all sectors of the kidney community, including the top influencers in kidney care from federal government, medical professionals, academia, private industry, and non-profit professional organizations, along with a virtual exhibit hall which will allow participates to engage with various kidney-related companies and organizations. For additional details and to register for this virtual event, click here. For information on sponsorship/exhibiting opportunities and virtual patient roundtables, please contact Erin Kahle, ekahle@aakp.org. Paul T. Conway, Chair of AAKP Policy and Global Affairs and a 23-year transplant recipient, stated, “AAKP has greatly expanded and refined our capacities to share expert knowledge on a global and national basis over the past several years. We are honored to deploy our virtual technologies, social platforms, and data analytics to disseminate breaking news and disease insights to both patients and professionals at zero cost to event registrants. We look forward to inviting new audiences to enlist in our global fight to include kidney patients, and the many diverse communities they represent, more fully into kidney disease research initiatives and clinical trials.” Conway is also involved with the National Institutes of Health/as a member of its External Expert Panel and has provided direct patient insights to multiple federal agencies, including as a reviewer for the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (DOD/CDMRP).To learn more about AAKP’s upcoming virtual events during 2020 and to register, visit https://aakp.org/programs- and-events/about-programs-and-events/. ### About the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP): AAKP is among the strongest advocates for kidney patient consumer care choice and treatment innovation. From 1969-1973, AAKP patients led the effort in the U.S. Congress, alongside senior White House officials, to establish the End Stage Renal Disease Program, which has saved over a million lives through modern dialysis coverage. AAKP virtual platforms and social networks are internationally known for their impact. In 2019, AAKP announced the start of the Decade of the KidneyTM upon the signing of the Executive Order on Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative. Since 2018, AAKP has conducted the largest virtual kidney voter registration drive in the nation, the “I am a Kidney Voter” campaign, which has registered patients in every state. AAKP fights for policies to increase early disease detection, increase kidney transplantation and pre-emptive transplantation, protect the patient/physician relationship, promote research and innovation, and eliminate barriers for patient access to available treatment options.Follow us on social media:Facebook @kidneypatient Twitter @kidneypatientsNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH/NIDDK) Kidney Precision Medicine Program (KPMP)https://www.kfcp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/TOP-KIDNEY-GROUP-DROPS-REGISTRATION-FEES-FOR-2020-VIRTUAL-EVENTS.pdf
