COVID-19 webcast series

In this series, researchers and physicians answer your questions about the impact of COVID-19 on PKD, dialysis, transplantation, and stress.

The PKD Foundation is monitoring the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic. Information is rapidly evolving and may change or be updated. The information provided in the below webinars is accurate as of April 20, 2020.

As of June: The CDC has updated their guidelines to confirm that having chronic kidney disease of any stage increases risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
Webcast one

Polycystic kidney disease

24 minutes

Learning objectives
  1. Understand basic information about coronavirus. 
  2. Demonstrate ways to minimize your risk of catching COVID-19.
  3. Identify questions for your health care team.
Speaker

Ron Perrone, M.D.

Tufts Medical Center

 

Biography

Ron Perrone, M.D., is a member of the Division of Nephrology at Tufts Medical Center, scientific director of the Clinical and Translational Research Center, and professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. He has a long-standing, wide-ranging interest in ADPKD, recently focusing clinical trials and the use of total kidney volume as a potential regulatory endpoint. He served as the clinical lead of the PKD Outcomes Consortium whose work led to qualification of total kidney volume as a prognostic biomarker by the FDA and EMA. He’s participated in a number of clinical trials in ADPKD, serving as the Boston site principal investigator (PI) and member of the steering committees for the HALT PKD study, the TEMPO 3/4 and REPRISE trials of tolvaptan in ADPKD, the TAME-PKD study of metformin, and the Venglustat study. He’s also serves as Boston site PI for Tesevatinib and Bardoxolone (Falcon) studies.

Webcast two

Transplantation

28 minutes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
  1. Understand how transplant surgeries could be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. Identify questions for your health care team.
Speaker

Patrick Dean, M.D.

Mayo Clinic Rochester

 

Biography

Dr. Patrick Dean is the Surgical Director of the Kidney/Pancreas Transplant Program and a Consultant and Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Transplantation Surgery at Mayo Clinic Rochester. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and subsequently graduated from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, AL. He completed his general surgery residency and fellowship in abdominal transplantation surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He was appointed to the faculty at Mayo Clinic in 2006. In addition to his clinical duties, Dr. Dean is the program director of the abdominal transplantation surgery fellowship program and Co-chair of the Enterprise Transplant Informatics Workgroup.

Dr. Dean’s clinical and research interests include kidney and pancreas transplantation, preemptive kidney transplantation, living donor kidney transplantation, transplantation for polycystic kidney disease and antibody-mediated kidney graft injury. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, as well as a member of both the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the American Society of Transplantation. He has been a member of the Membership and Professional Standards Committee of UNOS and the Fellowship Training Committee of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons. Currently he is the Chair of the Program Accreditation Committee of the ASTS Transplant Accreditation & Certification Council. In addition, he serves on the Clinical Policy Board of LifeSource and the Kidney Pancreas Committee of LifeSource.

Webcast three

Dialysis

13 minutes

Learning objectives
  1. Understand how to minimize your risk during dialysis treatments.
  2. Identify questions for your health care team.
Speaker

Chad Stevenson, RN BS CNN

Dialysis Clinic, Inc.

 

Biography

Chad Stevenson, R.N., is a registered nurse and certified nephrology nurse. He has over 17 years of experience working in hemodialysis. Chad began his career as a hemodialysis technician at a dialysis clinic in Columbus, Ohio. Upon moving to Massachusetts, he transitioned to working for Dialysis Clinic, Inc., the largest non-profit dialysis company in the United States, where he now runs their outpatient dialysis clinic at Tufts Medical Center. Chad obtained his bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Webcast four

Stress

29 minutes

lEARNING OBJECTIVES
  1. Recognize the impact the pandemic has on everyday stress.
  2. Demonstrate ways to manage increased stress levels.
Speaker

Daniel Cukor, Ph.D.

Rogosin Institute

 

Biography

Daniel Cukor, Ph.D., is currently the director of behavioral health at the Rogosin Institute in New York City. He received his doctorate in clinical health psychology from Yeshiva University – Ferkauf Graduate School in 2002. The bulk of his research has focused on psychosocial issues in patients with chronic kidney disease. He’s received grant support for his research from a variety of local and federal funding sources. His current research interests are focused on depression, anxiety, sleep difficulty, pain, and caregiver burden in patients with end stage renal disease. He’s lectured nationally and internationally on psychosocial issues for patients with CKD and has written extensively in the scientific literature, with his work cited over 3,000 times. He’s also an editor of the upcoming volume Psychosocial Issues in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Updated July 6, 2020.

Page last reviewed November 2022