TIME Honors Leaders Who Promoted Race-Free Measure of Kidney Function

The co-chairs of the National Kidney Foundation/American Society of Nephrology Task Force on Reassessing the Inclusion of Race in Diagnosing Kidney Diseases were included on the TIME inaugural list of the 100 most influential people in global health. The publication honored Cynthia Delgado, MD, FASN, and Neil R. Powe, MD, FASN, for their efforts to correct racial bias in the algorithm used to diagnose kidney diseases, which often determines access to a kidney transplant. Dr. Delgado is a nephrologist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Dr. Powe is chief of medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and a professor at UCSF.

In a 2020 report, the task force detailed a new race-free approach to estimate kidney function. Recommendations included adopting a new equation that is patient-centered, incorporates data from a diverse patient population, uses a biological marker (creatinine) available in all laboratories, has high performance compared with gold standard measurements, and considers the range of clinical consequences affected by kidney function. The United Network for Organ Sharing implemented the new formula last year, modifying the wait times for many Black patients, who have historically been less likely to be wait-listed for or receive a kidney transplant than White patients.

The full TIME100 Health list can be viewed online and will appear in the May 13, 2024, print issue of TIME.