Current State and Future of Research in Nephrology

The focus of this article is to review the available funding opportunities for the nephrology workforce at all career levels and review the current challenges involved in the career of a physician-scientist. While the scarcity of nephrology fellows for training programs is a continuing challenge, increased funding for the National Institutes of Health is encouraging particularly for early career investigators. In addition to National Institutes of Health funding, other funding sources are also discussed as they provide much needed bridge funding during key transition periods for young careers. Recent initiatives such as the Advancing American Kidney Health, KidneyX, and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases' Kidney Precision Medicine Project offer new research opportunities for bringing much needed innovation to improve lives of people with kidney diseases. The time is now for us to seize the opportunity and ensure that a strong workforce will be able to take advantage of these potential game changers for nephrology.