CMSS Awards ASN $100K to Promote Race-Free eGFR Algorithm

The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) is awarding a $100,000 grant to the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) to promote the use and understanding of a new race-free algorithm to measure estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The new diagnostic tool is intended to eliminate racial disparities promoted by the original algorithm, which was established more than 20 years ago.

The previous algorithm diagnosed and assessed severity of kidney diseases by measuring serum creatinine relation to age, sex, and race. In 2020, a joint task force between ASN and the National Kidney Foundation assessed the impact of race in eGFR on perpetuating systemic bias in kidney care. Emphasizing that race is a social construct and not a biological factor, the task force recommended the adoption of the new algorithm to provide a more accurate assessment of kidney function. The CMSS grant will help promote the new diagnostic tool to more than 21,000 ASN members.

“The new eGFR clinical algorithm is a powerful clinical tool that provides a more accurate representation of kidney health by eliminating race from the calculus,” said Tod Ibrahim, ASN executive vice president. “The CMSS grant will help accelerate our efforts to provide nephrologists and other kidney health professionals with the latest information about eGFR and equip them to discuss the new metric with their patients with kidney diseases. We hope our efforts will inspire other medical societies to [review] long-established standards of care to identify and eliminate race-based disparities.”