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The Irish Nephrology Society gathering will feature a broad programme, covering key issues in kidney disease, from metabolic care to transplant medicine
The Irish Nephrology Society Annual Scientific Meeting will take place at The Gibson Hotel, Point Square, North Dock, Dublin, on 15–16 May 2026. The meeting will bring together specialists working in nephrology for updates across clinical practice, research, and service development in kidney disease.
The programme opens late afternoon on Friday 15 May. The first session is titled the ‘Latest in nephrology’. It will begin with a welcome from Dr Sam Kant, Secretary of the Irish Nephrology Society (INS) and Consultant Nephrologist, St Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH), Dublin, and University College Dublin (UCD).
Dr Sam Kant
Dr Kant was previously an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Consultant Nephrologist at Johns Hopkins University Hospital/School of Medicine, US, where he completed the majority of his postgraduate training.
He is the current Deputy Editor of Kidney News, published by the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), and the Director of the Basic Specialist Senior House Officer training programme at the SVUH Healthcare Group.
Prof Stephen McAdoo, Consultant Nephrologist, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Professor of Practice in Nephrology at Imperial College London, UK, will then present on approaches towards steroid avoidance in ANCA-associated vasculitis, focusing on evolving treatment strategies. This is followed by a talk from Prof Cormac Kennedy, Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, St James’s Hospital, Dublin, and Trinity College Dublin, who will review the current evidence, as well as uncertainties, in blood pressure management.
The first day ends with a drinks reception and conference dinner.
Second day
The second day of the meeting, Saturday 16 May, begins with registration, poster viewing, and engagement with industry partners.
Prof Donal Reddan
A plenary session chaired by Prof Donal Reddan, INS President and Consultant Nephrologist, University Hospital Galway, will then take place.
A 1992 UCD graduate, Prof Reddan completed basic specialist training at SVUH and an internal medicine residency at AGH Pittsburgh, US, prior to a Nephrology and Biomedical Scholar Fellowship at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, US, where he also completed a Master’s in health sciences.
He joined the faculty at Duke University’s division of nephrology and at the Duke Clinical Research Institute before moving to his current position in Galway in 2003.
He is extensively published and involved in the design and implementation of large clinical trials in chronic kidney disease (CKD), CKD-associated anaemia, and CKD-associated cardiovascular risk.
Prof Reddan served as Clinical Director for medicine for the Saolta University Health Care Group for five years until February 2019. He is a longstanding council member, former Vice-President, and recent Treasurer of the RCPI.
After Prof Reddan’s welcome address, Dr Joel Topf, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Michigan, US, will discuss potassium management, focusing on arrhythmia risk, clinical outcomes, and current research.
Plenary lecture
This will be followed by a plenary lecture from Dr Samir Parikh, ASN President and Professor of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, US.
Dr Samir Parikh
Dr Parikh graduated magna cum laude from Harvard concentrating in chemistry. He gained his medical degree from Vanderbilt, where he received the Founder’s Medal for highest academic standing. Prior to joining UT Southwestern, he served as Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a Director of the Centre for Vascular Biology Research, and Associate Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess.
His research is focused on mechanisms underlying acute kidney injury and sepsis. In recent studies, his laboratory has implicated mitochondrial maintenance via PGC1alpha and NAD+ as a novel pathway for resilience against acute physiological stressors. Ongoing studies are examining links between acute kidney injury, CKD, and ageing, and how NAD+ metabolism impacts injury in other organs. Work from his team has been published in Nature, Nature Medicine, JCI, Science Translational Medicine, PNAS, and other high-impact journals.
Dr Parikh’s contributions have been recognised with honours including the Sir William Osler Award and the Donald Seldin Award.
He has served major national leadership roles in kidney research and policy, first as Chair of the NIH Pathobiology of Kidney Disease study section and now as the 59th President of the ASN. During his presidency, the ASN has advanced national research priorities through the Transforming Kidney Health Research initiative and helped lead advocacy efforts culminating in passage of the Honoring our Living Donors (HOLD) Act.
Dr Parikh is also an active public communicator, with his work featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, and PBS.
At the end of this session, both speakers will also take part in a live podcast discussion alongside Prof Catherine Godson.
After a short break, the programme moves to transplant nephrology. The session will be chaired by Dr Ciara Magee, Consultant Nephrologist, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. Prof Rhys Evans, Associate Professor of Renal Medicine and Consultant Transplant Nephrologist, the Royal Free NHS Trust, London, UK, will address attendees on the management of highly sensitised transplant candidates, outlining current challenges and evolving strategies.
Following lunch, Prof Aisling Courtney, Transplant Nephrologist, Belfast City Hospital, will deliver a talk, titled ‘Living donor transplantation: Redefining possibilities’.
The metabolic aspects of CKD and transplantation are explored in the next session, chaired by Dr Aisling O’Riordan, Consultant Nephrologist, SVUH.
Prof Francis Finucane, Consultant Endocrinologist, University Hospital Galway, will discuss the medical management of obesity in patients with kidney disease, while Prof Helen Heneghan, Consultant Bariatric Surgeon, SVUH, and UCD, will outline the role of metabolic surgery in CKD and transplant populations.
The next session will hear from Prof Charuhas Thakar, Editor-in-Chief of ASN Kidney 360 and Director at the Wellcome Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, Queen’s University Belfast, which will be followed by oral abstract presentations covering basic and clinical science. The Sinead Kinsella Bursary Award winner will also present their work.
The final session of the meeting will include service updates delivered by Prof Joseph Eustace, Director of the National Renal Office; and Prof Peter Conlon, Director of Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland.
The meeting will conclude with multiple award presentations, recognising excellence in research presentations.
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