The Board of Directors of the Spanish Society of Nephrology (S.E.N.) approved at its ordinary meeting of 18 December 2012 the creation of a Transplantation Working Group (SENTRA). In accordance with the Regulations of the S.E.N. Working Groups, in promoting the establishment of a working group, four priority aspects1 must be addressed:

 

1. General scientific interest, medical interest and health interest of the issue proposed for study

More than half of patients with advanced chronic kidney disease requiring replacement therapy in Spain are kidney transplantation patients, and as such, it is unquestionable that transplants are a priority work and knowledge generation area for all nephrologists. Therefore, the Society must enhance initiatives that focus on the transplant area, not only because of its importance as a form of renal replacement therapy for the patient and its position as the most cost-efficient technique that provides the best quality of life, but also because of Spain’s leading global position in transplantation. The medical and scientific activities of Spanish nephrologists related to kidney transplantation have been very important for many years, and the S.E.N. must direct, stimulate and lead this activity.

 

2. Explicit definition of objectives (general and specific) to cover

Sentra's main purpose is to promote access to kidney transplantations to patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and advance in the care of kidney transplanted patients. Specifically, the activities will focus on:

• Promoting activities of high scientific interest in the generation of evidence and value in the area of kidney donation and kidney transplantation: clinical trials, observational studies, systematic revisions, guidelines and recommendations.2
• Promoting first class training activities that focus on kidney transplantation learning for nephrologists, both in the context of the annual S.E.N. Conference and in other meetings, as well as through its online platform.
• Extending, both to nephrologists and other health professionals and society in general, initiatives to overcome barriers, inequalities, and ethical issues and in general, anything that might prevent more extensive access with the best possible results in renal transplant both from living and deceased donors in all their possible forms.3
• Improving collaboration between S.E.N. members, other S.E.N. working groups and other scientific societies related to kidney transplantation, mainly the Spanish Society of Transplantation, the Spanish Society of Immunology, the Spanish Association of Urology and its Transplantation Working Group, the European Dialysis and Transplantation Association and its Transplantation Working Group, the European Society for Organ Transplantation, the American Society of Nephrology, the American Society of Transplantation and the Transplantation Society.
• Serving as a representative, always by mandate and delegation of the S.E.N. Board of Directors in matters related to transplantation that are of interest to the members, in their relationship with bodies such as the National Transplant Organization, as well as with other Administrative and social agents.

The first attempt of Spanish nephrologists to work in the field of evidence-based medicine at an institutional level in S.E.N. was the creation of its Kidney Transplantation Evidence-based Medicine Group in 2001, coordinated by Julio Pascual, whose objective was to share these tools and carry out systematic revisions.3-6 This group definitively joined that which was subsequently created in evidence-based medicine in nephrology, coordinated by Carlos Quereda.7,8 The group focuses on the generation of knowledge in all areas of Nephrology and publishes reviews, methodological commentaries and structured abstracts, currently in the supplements of Evidence-based Nephrology.9,10 SENTRA will actively collaborate in these type of activities.

In recent years, various professional groups have joined forces to generate initiatives and knowledge in the area of transplantation in Spain. In the 1990s, led by José M. Morales, a first S.E.N. Renal Transplant group was created, which carried out major collaborative activities during that decade. Subsequently, the Renal Forum groups, sponsored by Astellas, were developed and continue to be productive,11, 12 as well as the Chronic Nephropathy Transplant Group, sponsored by Wyeth and coordinated by Daniel Serón, which since its inception has produced some of the studies and publications of most interest and impact carried out by Spanish renal transplant nephrologists.13-17 In 2000, ATOS (Solid Organ Transplant Clinic) was created. It is sponsored by the company Roche and includes Spanish experts in transplantation of various solid organs who meet annually to disseminate knowledge on the most diverse topics related to this area, whose scope goes beyond kidney transplantation. In recent years, and before the creation of the Spanish Society of Transplantation, it was the most stable tool for collaboration between transplant professionals of various bodies.18 In an attempt to analyse the evidence available regarding the metabolic disorders after renal transplant and reach a consensus over their management, the Prometheus Group, was established in 2007, also sponsored by Roche, which includes a renal transplant nephrologist for each Transplantation Unit of our country and which is coordinated by Dr Manuel Arias and Dr Josep M ª Campistol.19,20 The group meets annually after continuous work on a particular topic and is advised by non-nephrologist experts and specialists in evidence-based medicine. The Spanish Group in Transplantation Actions (GREAT), which was established in 2006 and is coordinated by Sofía Zárraga and Ana Sánchez-Fructuoso and sponsored by the company Astellas is developing collaborative projects of special interest and international impact.21,22 Sentra, as an official S.E.N. Working Group, as well as developing its own strategy, will facilitate the development of open projects that can be generated within all of these collaborative groups, with the aim of integrating and complementing, in compliance with the institutional objectives of the S.E.N.

3. Establishment of a detailed action plan that includes means to be used, resources available and the action schedule

During the first months of 2013, a SENTRA development process will begin: firstly its coordinating committee will be established (two coordinators and eight additional members), who will meet to design the action plan, targets and schedule. SENTRA will immediately be open to all members who are interested in taking part in it; the only requirement is to be members of the S.E.N. and after having made a declaration of interest to participate in the activities and initiatives of the group. The SENTRA coordinating committee will initiate fluid communication immediately with members of the S.E.N. to facilitate their incorporation into the group and its activities, at various levels of commitment that its members establish freely in each case.

4. No conflict of interest with other working groups of the S.E.N.

Although it has been said that in Spain there are various collaborative groups working in the area of kidney transplantation, there is no similar institutional operating group in the Society that is open to 100% of its members.

In accordance with the Regulations for creating working groups, “the Board of Directors will determine the appointment of the members of each working group from among the S.E.N. members who voluntarily decide to join and participate in it. With this aim, the Board of Directors will be guided by the sole criterion that the elected members possess an unquestionable professional and scientific career in the relevant area of the working group.”1 SENTRA’s initial coordinators are Drs Josep M ª Cruzado and Julio Pascual, and its coordinating committee is completed by Drs ángel Alonso, Fritz Diekmann, Roberto Gallego, Domingo Hernández, álex Gutiérrez-Dalmau, José M. Morales, Emilio Rodrigo and Sofía Zárraga. As has already been mentioned, all members of SENTRA must be members of the S.E.N. to register as such. The coordinating committee will meet by teleconference at least once every 3 months and in person at least once a year, in order to promote the targets proposed. This arrangement will remain in place for 3 years and in June 2016, one of the coordinators will be replaced along with four members of the coordinating committee, and in June 2019, the remainder, in order that the total renewal occurs in 6 years.

Sentra will have a website to develop its outreach, communication and training activities and will work closely with the Board of Directors, the Senefro Foundation, the grupo editorial Nefrología and the Technical Secretary of the S.E.N.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to the contents of this article.