ASPN’s Corporate Liaison Board (CLB), formed in 2008, has been quietly maturing behind the scenes and is now becoming a significant venue for collaboration in support of several ASPN endeavors focused on trainee education, career development, and leadership skills. The CLB presently consists of 5 corporate partners engaged in the care of pediatric nephrology patients.

Support for fellow travel – ASPN successfully applied for a grant from CLB member Genentech that will provide travel funds to approximately 25 fellows who attended the 2010 PAS/ASPN meeting in Vancouver. Feedback on the educational component of the meeting was obtained by surveying the fellows who applied and this information was then passed along to the ASPN Program Committee planning the 2011 meeting. Thus, this joint effort between a CLB member and the ASPN not only directly benefited current fellows with travel support but also should provide indirect benefits to the ASPN membership at large in the form of improvements in the ASPN meeting program. We hope to continue this endeavor and will be applying for another grant to support fellow travel to the 2011 meeting in Denver.

ASPN Leadership development – As has been discussed at recent business meetings, Council has identified the development of future leaders for ASPN as a significant priority for the Society. This issue has also been raised with the CLB, as many companies have formal programs in place to ‘grow’ future leaders from within. CLB member Novartis has come forward with assistance in this regard, and we are currently in the process of finalizing a formal leadership development curriculum for ASPN members, the first component of which will be a session led by a trainer from Novartis.

Fellow education – The Renal Research Institute, an independent joint venture between CLB member Fresenius Medical Care - North America and Beth Israel Medical Center, sponsors an annual conference, “Advances in CKD,” which in the past has been primarily aimed at internist-nephrologists. Over the last 2 years, specific pediatric content has been added to this conference, and travel grants have been made available to pediatric nephrology trainees. At our most recent CLB meeting, we learned that the number of such grants allocated to pediatric fellows will be increased for the 2011 conference.

Advocacy and Public Policy – Decisions made by CMS and Congress impact not only nephrologists, but also pharmaceutical and device companies. While oftentimes the interests of corporations may differ from those of physicians, frequently there is common ground. Recently, ASPN’s Washington representative Katie Schubert met with the senior manager for Strategic Health Policy at CLB member Abbott to discuss potential common interests. Additionally, the John E Lewy Foundation has been developing a program for advocacy training of ASPN members, and Abbott and other CLB members have expressed interest in supporting such an endeavor.

In addition to the activities listed here, other potential interactions with the CLB were discussed at Council’s summer meeting. There are likely significant opportunities for mutual benefit that have not yet been explored. We encourage all members of ASPN with questions about the CLB, or with ideas for new initiatives, to contact Joseph Flynn, or any member of Council.