Abstract

George Schreiner, one of a group of first-generation nephrologists who developed hemodialysis for the treatment of acute renal failure during the 1940s and '50s, passed away recently and in this issue we include his obituary written by Eli Friedman. George was one of the giants of those early days, who went on to contribute to the development of nephrology over the years. With Paul Doolan and Paul Teschan (both still alive), he was part of the group that established the dialysis unit at Walter Reed Hospital. After and as a result of his experience in the battlefield in Korea in 1951, he went on to establish one of the earliest programs for the treatment of acute renal failure with the artificial kidney in the U.S. at Georgetown. This led him to develop the famous Georgetown University nephrology department that trained hundreds of nephrologists from the U.S. and elsewhere. He was one of the early members of the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs and was editor of the society's Proceedings for many years, taking pride in having these published in less than three months after the annual meeting. However, perhaps his most important achievement from the point of view of patients was that he was a very important factor in getting the U.S. Congress to legislate the Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease Program. Also in the last few months another one of the well-known pioneers in the field of dialysis–Dimitrious Oreopoulos–died. He was a renowned figure in Canadian nephrology for his work on peritoneal dialysis and his role in instigating the use of plastic bags of peritoneal dialysate that led to a rapid increase in the use of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) worldwide. During his years working at the Toronto Western Hospital he devoted himself to improving the care of dialysis patients and to the education of nephrology fellows from Canada and many other countries. He was one of the first to realize the increasing importance of geriatric nephrology and because of his concern for patients he established the Humane Medicine Journal as a medium for writing about ethical issues in patient care. There are only few of that first generation of dialyzing nephrologists from the 1940s and early 50s still alive and in the United States the oldest, well in his 90s, is Irving Kroop, who participated in the very first dialyses in New York using a rotating drum dialyzer from Dr. Kolff and who wrote an article for this journal a couple of years ago. Others are Paul Doolan and Paul Teschan, whom I mentioned in connection with Dr. Schreiner. Brian McCracken who, with Frank Parsons, started the dialysis unit in Leeds, England, in 1956 is still alive as is Gabriel Richet in France. I would be interested to know of others. An important part of the mission of the International Society for Hemodialysis is continuing medical education on hemodialysis for practicing nephrologists, renal fellows, practicing nephrologists, nephrology nurse practioners and dialysis nurses, patient-care technicians and others involved in the care of patients. As you will see in the advertisement in this journal, in September the ISHD is starting a new educational venture called “Hemodialysis University” and its first program is to be held in Chicago in September of this year. Check the advertisement for more information and go to http://www.ishd.net to access the online registration form for the event. Also note that that from August 3 to 5, the Fifth Congress of the International Society for Hemodialysis will be held at the Grand Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan—see advertisement in this issue and visit the website at http://www.ishd2012.org. Finally, to learn more about the ISHD and to find how to join the society, log on to http://www.ishd.net

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