Can-SOLVE CKD Network
IMPACT REPORT 2024
Patients First: Advancing Equity in Kidney Research
Letter From the Executive Director
For the Can-SOLVE CKD Network, 2024 was a transformative year—a time of learning, growth, and meaningful strides as we continue to advance patient-oriented kidney health research and engagement across Canada and beyond.
More than ever, we put patients at the heart of everything we did. From co-designing research initiatives to enhancing patient partnership models, we’ve embraced the ethos of collaboration and community-driven research. Patient partners brought invaluable insights to the table, helping us shape research agendas that reflect the needs of those living with chronic kidney disease (CKD).
In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, Can-SOLVE CKD Network secured over $3.16 million in funding to advance patient-oriented research, foster inclusive and equitable care, and strengthen connections between researchers and those with lived experience, with a focus on improving kidney health for all Canadians. We conducted network-wide patient partner recruitment research in order to create a patient partner recruitment toolkit for researchers both within and beyond the network. This work was shared by members of our Patient Governance Council at the World Congress of Nephrology 2024 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Kidney Week 2024 in San Diego, California.
Another major milestone this year was the launch of Meno Ya Win (“A Vision for Better Health”), an Indigenous kidney health learning and decision-making tool consisting of a series of videos and lesson plans co-created by and for Indigenous people living with CKD. To understand the network’s existing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) strengths and future directions, Can-SOLVE CKD Network conducted a network-wide IDEA audit, with a path forward shared publicly December 2024.
We enhanced our online presence, reaching more people than ever before. KidneyLink, our website that connects patients with research opportunities, saw a nearly 40 per cent increase in new users, thanks to newly implemented marketing efforts and features that made participation easier and more accessible.
Equity, diversity, and inclusion continued to be emphasized in all aspects of our work. Through collaborations with key communities, we created opportunities to listen to those with lived experience and continued to support research projects addressing systemic barriers in kidney health care. By year’s end, Kidney Check successfully screened over 500 individuals in BC First Nations communities, with ongoing engagement in over 29 First Nation communities. We successfully published five new studies addressing Indigenous health, ensuring culturally relevant approaches to kidney care and research.
None of this would have been possible without our dedicated network of patient partners, researchers, healthcare professionals, and operations team. Together, we tackled urgent challenges facing the CKD community and explored innovative solutions to improve care, outcomes, and quality of life for all Canadians living with the disease.
As we look ahead, I’m filled with optimism for the path before us. The strength, resilience, and vision of our community inspire me daily, and I’m excited to build on the momentum of 2024 as we strive toward a healthier, more equitable future for everyone affected by CKD.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Let’s continue to innovate, collaborate, and make a lasting impact—together.
With gratitude,
Heather Harris
Executive Director, Can-SOLVE CKD Network
2024 at a Glance
$3M+
Secured in funding
40+
Research publications and presentations
34
Patient partner council members
15+
Equity initiatives and resources
2200+
People reached via KidneyLink
Supporting Capacity Building
At Can-SOLVE CKD Network, we believe that the best research starts with the voices of those it seeks to help. Chronic kidney disease affects millions of Canadians, yet the path to diagnosis and treatment often remains inequitable and fragmented. This is why Can-SOLVE CKD Network exists—to ensure that lived experiences guide the science and frameworks of care, and that solutions are tailored to real needs.
“On the last day [of the ISN Research Consensus Meeting], there was a statistician from Germany [who] told us that by listening to our story, from a patient partner perspective, it puts a lot more meaning to his work…and now he knows that each number is not just a number, but a person behind it.”
Thomas Ng
Patient Partner
Diversifying Kidney Research
Our mission is to break down barriers to equitable kidney care by prioritizing patient engagement, fostering innovative collaborations, and addressing systemic disparities. From co-developing culturally safe care models alongside Indigenous communities to launching accessible digital tools like KidneyLink, we’re driven by a single purpose: to improve outcomes and quality of life for everyone affected by CKD through equity-centred, patient-oriented research.
As a research network committed to advancing health equity, we recognize that amplifying the history, stories, and cultures of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples is not only right, but necessary. There is no health equity without Indigenous voices.
In the context of kidney research, the expertise and lived experiences of Indigenous researchers, clinicians, patient partners, Elders and Knowledge Keepers, and other community members is especially crucial, given that chronic kidney disease disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities.
The Kidney Check project aims to improve early CKD risk identification, and support people in rural and remote Indigenous communities with access to recommended care within their communities. Míkw’achi7m, also known as Marissa Nahanee, is a patient partner with Kidney Check and communicates the importance of coming together to create a safer world.
“She [Dr. Joanne Kappel] used the approach of the traditional people to offer me tobacco, and that showed me the honesty that was going to be involved in this work, to understand each other properly and not take control one way or another…that’s why I got involved.”
Elder George Laliberte
Knowledge Keeper
“Staff, patient partners, researchers – we are all tasked with being responsible for embodying IDEA principles.”
Selina Allu
Knowledge Translation Broker
and Implementation Support Practitioner
Mary Beaucage was a fearless champion for kidney health whose contributions to the Can-SOLVE CKD community are too great to count. We will remember her good humour, quick wit, and warm heart, which she shared so generously. Her presence will continue to be felt in everything we do, and we remain committed to realizing her vision of better kidney health for all.
Mary was a proud Anishinaabekwe from Nipissing First Nation, who was the catalyst and inspiration for the Supporting Each Other’s Journey Land Acknowledgment Series, for which she wrote and narrated this powerful video to share her teachings and wisdom.
Mobilizing Research
We’re more than a research network. We’re a movement for change. By uniting patients, caregivers, researchers, and healthcare professionals, we’re shaping a future where everyone’s voice is heard. Where care is a conversation, and research a collaboration. Every study we launch, tool we create, and story we share pushes us closer to a future of health equity.
We Want You: Patient Partner Recruitment Strategies Within a National Kidney Health Research Network
In 2024, the Patient Governance Council and Communications Team collaborated to identify the most effective patient partner recruitment strategies across the network. Their findings were presented at the World Congress of Nephrology, Kidney Week, and Putting Patients First BC.
We have created a robust national research program based around what matters most to patients:
- Identifying kidney disease earlier
- Developing better treatments
- Delivering innovative patient-centred care
Our research projects are generating new knowledge and tools that will impact kidney health care for years to come. Learn more about each of these initiatives below.
2024 Publications
| Title | Journal | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Perceptions and Information-Seeking Behaviour Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination Among Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease in 2023: A Cross-Sectional Survey | Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease |
Enilama, Omosomi; MacDonald, Cynthia; Thompson, Pearl; Khan,Umair; Allu, Selina;
Beaucage, Mary; Yau, Kevin; Oliver, Matthew J.; Hladunewich, Michelle A.; Levin, Adeera
|
| Collaborative implementation science: a Can-SOLVE CKD case example | JBI Evidence Implementation | Allu, Selina; Beaucage, Mary; Donald, Maoliosa; Escoto, Manuel; Kappel, Joanne; Morrin, Louise; Soroka, Steven |
| Can-SOLVE CKD: Capturing Our IDEA Journey as a Patient-Oriented Kidney Research Network (Poster.) | Journal of the American Society of Nephrology | Turino Miranda, Keila; Jones, Jocelyn; M.; Harris, Heather; Scholey, James W.; Talson, Melanie D.; Hampson, Michelle; Cook, Charles; L. Wysocki Julie; Hainstock, Taylor; Allu, Selina |
|
Kidney International
Reports.
|
Talson, Melanie; Wilde, Claudia; Cook, Charles; Loverock, Kelly | |
| Journal of the American Society of Nephrology | Talson, Melanie; Wilde, Claudia; Cook, Charles; Loverock, Kelly | |
| Perspectives and Current Practices in the Provision of Sexual Health Support for People with CKD: A Survey of Canadian Health Care Providers (Poster.) | Journal of the American Society of Nephrology | Elliott, Meghan J.; Love, Shannan; Jassemi, Sabrina; Sparkes, Dwight; Dumanski, Sandi M.; Hemmelgarn, Brenda; Mckeaveney, Clare; Farragher, Janine; Ahrenholz, Katie B.; Crysdale, Gillian; Verdin, Nancy; Donald, Maoliosa |
| Validation of Patient-Reported Outcome measure in pediatric chronic Kidney disease (PRO-Kid) | Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology | Matsuda-Abedini, Mina; Zappitelli, Michael; Widger K, Rapoport A, Dionne JM, Chanchlani, Raul; Samuel, Sam; Davison SN, Bei KF, Wai Lai VK, Dufault B, Dart, Alison. |
| Pharmacological treatment for mental health illnesses in adults receiving dialysis: A scoping review | Fundamental & Clinical Pharmacology | Wichart, Jenny; Yoeun, Peter; Chin, Tracy; Evernden, Christopher; Berendonk, Charlotte; Kerr, Jodi; Birchall, Alexandra; Boschee, Belinda; Defoe, Kimberly; Dhaliwal, Jasleen; Karis Allen, Tasia; Kennedy, Megan; McDonald, Alexis; Mierzejewski, Monika K.; Schick-Makaroff, Kara |
| Implementation of a One-Day Living Kidney Donor Assessment Clinic to Improve the Efficiency of the Living Kidney Donor Evaluation: Program Report | Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease | Yohanna S; Naylor KL; Sontrop JM; Ribic CM; Clase CM; Miller MC, et al. |
| Prescribing patterns and medication costs in patients on maintenance haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis | Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation | Ghimire, Anukul; Lloyd, Anita M, Bello, Aminu K; Battistella, Marisa; Ronksley, Paul; Tonelli, Marcello |
| Prediction models for earlier stages of chronic kidney disease | Current Opinion in Nephrology and Hypertension | Alexiuk, Mackenzie; Tangri, Navdeep |
| Factors Affecting Quality of Life in Adolescents Living With Type 2 Diabetes: A Substudy of the Improving Renal Complications in Adolescents With Type 2 Diabetes Through REsearch (iCARE) Cohort | Canadian Journal of Diabetes | Mosienko L.; Wicklow, B.; McGavock, J.;Sellers, EAC; Schur, S.; Dufault, B.; Gabbs, M.; Dart, A. |
| Sex differences in kidney metabolism may reflect sex-dependent outcomes in human diabetic kidney disease | Science Translational Medicine | Clotet-Freixas, S; Zaslaver, O; Kotlyar, M.; Pastrello, C.; Quaile, A.; McEvoy, C.; Saha, Am.; Farkona, S.; Boshart, A.; Zorcic, K.; Neupane, S.; Manion, K.; Allen, M.; Chan, M.; Chen, X.; Arnold, A.; Sekula, P.; Steinbrenner, I.; Kottgen, A.; Dart, A.; Wicklow, B.; McGavock, J.; Blydt-Hansen, T.; Barrios, C.; Riera, M.; Soler, M.J.; Isenbrandt, A; Lamontagne-Proulx, J.; Pradeloux, S.; Coulombe, K.; Soulet, D.; Rajasekar, S.; Zhang, B.; John, R.; Mehrotra, A.; Gehring, A.; Puhka, M.; Jurisica, I.; Woo, M.; Scholey, J.; Rost, H.; Konvalinka, A. |
| Barriers to Optimal Kidney Health Among Indigenous Peoples | Kidney International Reports | Chaturvedi, S.; Victoria, Bianchi M.E.; Bello, A.; Crowshoe, H.; Hughes, J.T. |
| An update on the global disparities in kidney disease burden and care across world countries and regions | The Lancet. Global health. | Bello, AK.; Okpechi, IG.; Levin, A.; Ye, F.; Damster, S.; Arruebo, S.; Donner, JA.; Caskey, FJ.; Cho, Y.; Davids, MR.; Davison, SN.; Htay, H.; Jha, V.; Lalji, R.; Malik, C,; Nangaku, M.; See, E.; Sozio, S.M.; Tonelli, M.; Wainstein, M.; Yeung, EK.; Johnson, DW.; ISN-GKHA Group. |
| Prevention of Chronic Kidney Disease and Its Complications in Older Adults | Drugs Aging | Tungsanga, S.;Bello, AK. |
| Regional hotspots for chronic kidney disease: A multinational study from ISN-GKHA multinational study from the ISN-GKHA |
PLOS Global Public Health | Garcia, P.; Strasma, AK; Wijewickrama, E.; Arruebo, S.; Caskey, FJ.; Damster, S.; Donner, JA.; Jha, V.; Levin, A.; Nangaku, M.; Saad, S.; Tonelli, M.; Ye, F.; Okpechi, IG.; Bello, AK.; Johnson, DW.; Anand, S. |
| Patients’ experiences of medication management while navigating ongoing care between outpatient services: A qualitative case study of patients on hemodialysis | Explore Res Clin Soc Pharm | Zhang, T.; Mohsen, M.; Abbaticchio, A.; Battistella, M. |
As we look to 2025, we are excited for upcoming network outputs including culturally sensitive webinars, patient-oriented scholarly publications, and collaborative presentations on the national and international nephrology stage.
This roadmap outlines key initiatives and events planned for the first half of 2025. Stay tuned to our newsletter and social channels for updates on what’s ahead in the second half of the year!
Financial Highlights
At Can-SOLVE CKD Network, we’re not only imagining a healthier tomorrow—we’re building it today.
***All financial figures presented are based on the Can-SOLVE CKD Network’s fiscal year. Year 1 covers the Fiscal Period April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. Year 2 covers the Fiscal Period April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024.
