Expectations vs Reality: The Long-Term Effects of Living Kidney Donation on Donors

As part of Living Donation Week 2022, The Kidney Foundation of Canada held this very important webinar. The webinar begins with presentations by:

• Dr. Amit Garg, Professor of Medicine - Division of Nephrology and of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University in London, Ontario, medical director of the living kidney donor program at the London Health Sciences Centre and is a past president of the Canadian Society of Nephrology, and
• Dr. Sunita Singh, transplant nephrologist in the Division of Nephrology, and the medical director of the living kidney donation program at the Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network. 

The presentations are followed by Francine Girard-Griffith, Bob Mcrae, and Sylvie Charbonneau (National President of The Kidney Foundation), who share their journey as living donors. A Q&A fireside chat concludes this  webinar.

Presenters

Dr. Amit Garg

Dr. Garg is a Professor of Medicine - Division of Nephrology and of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University in London, Ontario. He is the Associate Dean, Clinical Research role at Western University. He served as the medical director of the living kidney donor program at the London Health Sciences Centre for 15 years and is a past president of the Canadian Society of Nephrology. He serves as the ICES Provincial Kidney, Dialysis and Transplantation Program Lead and the Provincial Medical Lead, Access to Kidney Transplantation for the Ontario Renal Network. He is a Scientist at the Lawson Health Research Institute and at ICES, and an Associate Scientist at the Population Health Research Institute. 

 Dr. Garg has mentored and trained future kidney researchers and was the recipient of the Kidney Foundation’s 2021 Medal for Research Excellence.

Dr. Sunita Singh

Dr. Sunita Singh is a transplant nephrologist in the Division of Nephrology and the medical director of the Living Kidney Donation program at the Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network. She is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Singh completed medical school at the University of Toronto, and internal medicine and chief medical residency at the University of British Columbia. She returned to Toronto to complete a Master of Science in clinical epidemiology and health care research, as well as additional fellowship training in kidney transplantation and advanced diabetes care. Dr. Singh’s research interests are focused on the evaluation and follow-up of living kidney donors, as well as the management of diabetes in kidney transplant recipients. 
 

Francine Girard-Griffith

Francine is a caregiver to her husband, who was diagnosed quite unexpectedly with kidney failure in June 2015. Throughout his kidney journey, Francine was always by her husband’s side while he underwent incentre hemodialysis three times a week and then peritoneal dialysis at home. After finding out she was a match, Francine donated one of her kidneys to her husband in April 2018.
 

Bob Mcrae

Bob is a kidney donor and a passionate volunteer. For over 20 years, Bob has been involved annually, in fundraisers in his neighbourhood, until the pandemic hit. After donating one of his kidneys in 2010, he has been passionately advocating about organ donation. Since then, he has participated in a long-term study, numerous committees, symposiums and events related to organ donation in the hope of raising awareness for such an important cause that can alter someone’s life. He is also a founder of Ottawa Gift of Life for organ donation.
 

Sylvie Charbonneau

Sylvie Charbonneau is the president and co-founder of Brio Conseils and a professor in the department of Executive Education at HEC Montréal, specializing in change management and organizational transformation.  She's President of the Kidney Foundation's National Board of Directors and has served as the President of the Quebec Branch of the Kidney Foundation.  On a personal level Sylvie is herself a living kidney donor and is doing all she can to change the world, one kidney at a time. 



The Kidney Foundation, would like to thank our sponsors for making the 2022 Kidney Foundation Webinar Series possible.