This year, we were able to greatly increase PKD awareness and education on a local and national level through our Chapter initiatives and national campaigns. With Health Canada once again recognizing September 4th as National PKD Awareness Day, our Chapter advocates, their friends and family, members of the medical community and local politicians joined together to strengthen the visibility of both ARPKD and ADPKD across Canada. Additionally, we held Advocacy Days in Toronto, Quebec City and Edmonton, where PKD Foundation of Canada staff, the Board of Directors, local PKD patients and advocates were able to meet with key legislative decision makers to educate them on polycystic kidney disease and help them better understand what living with PKD is really like.

The Walk for PKD, our signature fundraising campaign, introduced the Montreal Walk for PKD this year and combined with the efforts of Walks in Vankleek Hill, Guelph and Toronto, raised over $165,000 nationally with 800+ attendees all walking to end PKD!

In 2015, we were also able to fund two Canadian Fellowship Awards, setting a new record in annual giving towards research here in Canada. We further strengthened our support of the University Health Network’s Hereditary Kidney Disease Clinic, led by Dr. York Pei, by funding the 2nd year of Dr. Andrei Iluita’s Translational Research Fellowship based out of Toronto General Hospital. Additionally, we funded the 1st year of Dr. Almira Kurbegovic’s Translational Research Fellowship where she will work under the guidance of Dr. Marie Trudel at the Institut de recherché cliniques de Montréal (IRCM). The funding of these two Canadian fellowships and the work done within these clinics couple clinical care with research, so that new knowledge for the benefit of PKD patients across Canada can be generated.

Our successes over 2015 are inspiring and could not have happened without your support. Heading into 2016, we look forward to further fund leading Canadian research into a treatment and cure for PKD, but we need your help to do this.

With the end of the giving season upon us, won’t you make your holiday gift to advance research, advocacy and support for more PKD patients and their loved ones?

  

Be counted among our 2015 holiday donors and help the PKD Foundation of Canada better serve the needs of those in the PKD community.

HuffPost Healthy Living Blog: 5 Upsides of a Chronic Disease

Bill Brazell, long-time friend and supporter of the PKD Foundation of Canada shares five positive things that have come out of inheriting a chronic disease.  Many thanks to HuffPost Lifestyle for publishing the video!

Watch the full video here.

New Blog Post: PKD Will Not Beat Me

“While PKD may have taken away some things in my life, I believe it has also given me amazing opportunities and introduced me to incredible individuals.”

Read Valen’s full blog post here.

PKD Will Not Beat Me is an inspirational place for those seeking a positive environment to meet others with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) – to share stories, to ask questions and to make life-long friendships, encouraging each other to live positively along the way! PKD Will Not Beat Me is written by PKD patient and transplant recipient Valen Keefer.

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COMING SOON: Full Video Recording of the Recent 2015 Canadian PKD Symposium

In November, the PKD Foundation of Canada hosted the 2nd Canadian PKD Symposium in Toronto ON. The event was open to the public and included participants from the PKD medical community and various renal healthcare centres, as well as PKD patients, their families and loved ones.

Topics included:

• Eating Healthy with PKD
• Learn the Facts: The Basics of ARPKD & ADPKD
• Understanding Living Kidney Donation
• Update on Canadian Clinical PKD Research
• Dealing with the Emotional Aspects of Living with a Chronic Disease

In the coming weeks, we will be uploading the FULL symposium to our website for viewing! Whether you were unable to join us for the day, or wish to revisit one of the presentations from our world-renowned keynote speakers, we know you will find this recording of great value and we look forward to sharing it with you.

Upcoming Toronto Chapter Meeting

Topic: What’s New in PKD Research

Speaker: Dr. York Pei, MD, FRCPC, FACP, Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Genomic Medicine – University Health Network and University of Toronto