Thank You

Abstract

This is my last message as Chairperson of CRN. It has been quick and very busy year. Over the past year, the CRN Executive Committee has worked hard on various projects, and I would like to review our accomplishments. First, we conducted a search for a new Course Director for the Strategies II workshop presented at the National Kidney Foundations Annual Meeting. This workshop targets more in-depth topics for the advanced dietetics practitioner. We had a number of outstanding candidates and Victor Yu, PhD, RD, BC-ADM, was selected for this position. Victor will conduct his first Strategies II workshop this April. The upcoming meeting will also be the last Strategies I workshop–aimed at the new dietetics practitioner conducted by Janelle Gonyea, RDN, LD, FNKF. Janelle has done an outstanding job, and the Executive Committee is pleased to announce that Pam Kent, MS, RD, CDE, CSR, LD has been appointed to succeed her. Many of us have worked with Pam before and believe she will be as asset to this program. The Executive Committee also worked closely with NKF in helping to select the new editor of the Journal on Renal Nutrition to succeed Jerrilynn Burrowes, PhD, RD, CDN. Our new editor will work closely with Jerrilynn for the next year and will assume the role of editor in 2019. The Executive Committee has also been working with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Renal Practice Group on starting to work on revising “A Clinical Guide to Nutrition Care in Kidney Disease.” The last revision was in 2004, and in anticipation of the upcoming changes to the national renal diet–to be announced this summer, we commenced working on this publication. We have had multiple conference calls on this revision. Recently, we discussed the challenges in revising this publication with the previous editors, and our committee received some much needed advice on how to proceed. Our plan is to have our editors in place by April, and the revision of the chapters to start in May. A number of RD's submitted recipes for our recipe contest. Members of the executive committee made all the recipes and submitted their reviews. The winner will be announced at the NKF Annual Meeting, and the recipes will be published in the Renalink. As a member of this committee, I can say the recipes were delicious, and I encouraged anyone who has an original Renal Friendly Recipe to submit their recipe next year. By the time you read this, Christine Benedetti, MS, RD, SCR, LD, will be the new Chairperson of CRN. She assumes her duties at the end of February. Her specialty is pediatric renal nutrition. Christine is a Renal Nutritionist with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. In this role, she has had the privilege of working with NKF's new Kid Ambassador, Angelica Hale of America's Got Talent. I have worked with Christine this past year in her role as Chair-Elect and know she will do an outstanding job as Chair. In addition to working for Children's Hospital of Atlanta and volunteering for NKF, Christine is also the mother of young children. Her energy is boundless. I look forward to working with in my new role as Immediate Past Chair. In conclusion, it has been my great honor to serve as your Chairperson, and I wish you and CRN all the best in the future.