John Sedor, M.D., has been appointed chair of the Steering Committee for The Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX), a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) to accelerate innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases.
Established in April 2018, KidneyX was created with the goal to improve the lives of patients who are currently affected by kidney diseases by accelerating the development of drugs, devices, biologics and other therapies across the spectrum of kidney care.
Building off the success of similar public-private accelerators, KidneyX challenges researchers, innovators, and investors to bring breakthrough therapies to patients through a series of prize competitions to fast-track the development of innovative solutions that can prevent, diagnose, and/or treat kidney diseases.
In his role, Dr. Sedor will lead the KidneyX Steering Committee in their mission to promote collaboration between patients, health professionals, innovators, industry, and government with the ultimate goal of improving quality of life for people living with kidney diseases.
“Kidney diseases are often overlooked and underestimated as a serious public health issue but in reality are common, debilitating, and burdensome on patients, their families, and the economy,” said Dr. Sedor. “Unless we encourage investment and innovation and open the pathways to commercialization for new technologies and therapies, patients will continue to suffer. These patients are waiting and need better outcomes – that’s what we’re trying to achieve here.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 15 percent of U.S. adults—37 million people—are estimated to have Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), and 9 in 10 adults with CKD do not know they have it.
The first 2019 KidneyX Summit was recently held at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. on April 29-30. Winners of KidneyX’s inaugural prize competition, Redesign Dialysis Phase I, which challenged innovators to create designs of possible solutions or solution components that can replicate normal kidney functions and improve patient quality of life, were announced during the summit. The Redesign Dialysis prize will run in two phases with a total of $2.6 million given in prize money.
Dr. Sedor is the Ray W. Gifford, M.D., Endowed Chair in Kidney Research at the Glickman Urology & Kidney Institute at Cleveland Clinic and is a professor of molecular medicine at Lerner College of Medicine.