Season 2 Teaser: An Introduction to Rare Voices, Relatable Stories

Our second season of The Kidney Collective™ features conversations about rare kidney diseases and the shared experiences that connect the entire kidney community. Watch the teaser for a sneak preview of what’s ahead in 2026!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi everyone, I'm Tamar Rugera. And I'm Mike Spigler.

SPEAKER_02 0:03

And welcome back to the American Kidney Funds podcast, The Kidney Collective, where we speak with guests who give an intimate voice to the many aspects of living with kidney disease.

SPEAKER_03 0:13

And we want to give a very special welcome to our new host, AKF President and CEO LeVarne Burton. Welcome, Lavarne.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Thanks, Tamara and Mike. And hello to you, our listeners. I'm excited about the conversations we'll be sharing on the Kidney Collective.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Obviously, we're very glad to have you as a new host. But there's lots of other exciting things happening in 2026 as well. And Tamar, I'm wondering if you could tell us a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

That's right. This year we will bring our listeners several seasons of the Kidney Collective.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Each season will be focused on a particular theme. And the theme for the first season will be rare voices, relatable stories.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

And for this season, each episode, we will talk to a different member of the kidney community who is living with a rare kidney disease. And while you may not have that particular rare kidney disease, our hope is that we're going to show that even though the diseases are rare, the experiences of these people are relatable to anyone living with kidney disease or a chronic illness.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

You know, Mike, this will give us an opportunity to really highlight some of the lesser-known kidney diseases and share what's the same and what's different about them. Sometimes we've thought that all kidney disease was caused by one or two things. And we're learning more and more about the complexity of kidney disease and the various conditions that drive it. So I'm looking forward to that discussion.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

And then our second season, I'm really looking forward to our second season because we're focusing on something that is so important and such a huge issue, which is how kidney disease impacts mental health.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Mental health really affects people in such different ways. I mean, it can take so many different forms that can really affect not only, you know, your daily living, but your physical health too. And we're going to talk about mental health and the aspects of experiences of those of transplant recipients, people receiving dialysis treatments, and even people caring for someone that's living with kidney disease.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

You know, I'm really looking forward to talking about the impact on caregivers. This is really personal for me because I was a caregiver for a very long time. And I think sometimes, unless you've done that, you don't understand how much it impacts the people who are around the patient. And the caregiver also has to learn how to take care of themselves in order to be able to continue to take care of the patient. So I'm really looking forward to that discussion.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

This is really such an important season. I think hopefully it will provide help for others that are living in the same situation.

SPEAKER_03 2:36

I hope so too. And Lavarne, can you talk about the theme of the final 2026 season?

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Yes, absolutely. Innovation. You know, for so long, there have not been changes in the treatments available for people dealing with kidney disease, and we still don't have nearly enough. But in recent years, we've seen more treatments coming through the pipelines and meaning being made available to patients. We want to continue to encourage that. We want to make sure that patients as well as healthcare providers understand what's available for patients and that we continue to support through our various policy efforts the development of new drugs and therapies, the approval by FDA, and also making sure that those are available to the patients through their health plans and through programs like Medicare and Medicaid. So this is really going to be a fascinating way to wrap up our second year.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

Absolutely. There have just been so many big improvements and innovations in the field recently. I mean, things that you probably couldn't find a webpage for even 10 or 15 years ago. Now there are one or two therapies available for it. So we've got a lot of big innovations and updates to give you, and I think you'll find them very exciting.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

This is going to be such a great year. I can't wait to bring these conversations to the kidney community.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

Totally agree. So if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe or follow the Kidney Collective wherever you listen to podcasts and leave us a like or review to help us reach more members of the kidney community. You can also find the episodes from last year and more information about the upcoming seasons on our website, kidneyfund.org slash podcast.

SPEAKER_03 4:16

You can also follow AKF on all major social media channels.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

And join us next time. And remember that even in the toughest moments, there is always hope ahead. And the kidney collective and the American Kidney Fund will always be here for you.