The 'Neonatal Kidney' Special Interest Group

Welcome to the Special Interest Group on the Neonatal Kidney of the European Society for Paediatric Research (ESPR)

Neonates, especially in the preterm population, are a unique population due to their immaturity. Nephrological knowledge on the acute care as well as the long term consequences has been evolving over the last two decades, though there is still much to uncover. Close collaboration between neonatologists and paediatric nephrologists is essential. Such collaborations are ongoing in the United States (the Neonatal Kidney Collaborative), while this ESPR SIG group intends to collaborate with the European Society for Pediatric Nephrology (the neonatal kidney working group within ESPN) to join forces and merge expertises.

• Our objectives

  Our main objective is to improve clinical research and clinical care, with research interests along nephrogenesis and kidney maturation after preterm birth, neonatal acute kidney injury, renal replacement therapy in neonates, follow up (who and when), and healthcare improvements (guidelines, training programs, healthcare policies)
  We hereby try to create an ESPR network on interested individual members and groups, with the intention to merge the expertise of neonatologists and researchers, with the expertises within the ESPN, the European 'sister' organisation on pediatric nephrology, who also recently created a working group on neonatal kidney.
• SIG Chair and members

  To get the initiative started, Karel Allegaert (MD, PhD, KU Leuven and Erasmus MC Rotterdam) has taken the lead. Other ESPR members that expressed their interest are Eleanor Molloy, Genny Raffaeli, and Silvia Iacobelli. In its current stage, the SIG is just starting, and we are very open to any other interested member, hoping to recruit colleagues with diverse backgrounds and research interests related to this topic.
• Current and future activities

  Today (May 2025), we are working on a first draft of a 'white paper' in collaboration with the ESPN WG to raise awareness on the relevance of kidney function in neonatal care.

  A second recently initiated project relates to the laboratory methods and practices applying for neonatal and paediatric acute kidney injury, coordinated by International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC), Committee of Emerging Technology in Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, in collaboration with Tim Lang.
• Upcoming meetings of the SIG

  More info coming soon.
• How to engage with us

  Please contact the ESPR Secretariat via office@espr.eu. We will be more than happy to forward your request to the members of the 'Neonatal Kidney' SIG.