The NIDDK and the Council of American Kidney Societies have recognized the need to identify research priorities and the potential synergistic benefits of collaborating on a strategic plan. Led by the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the Council and NIDDK sponsored Strategic Planning Conferences on Renal Research Priorities.

Participants identified important scientific resources that would be needed to reach research goals, including:
· Conducting More Epidemiological Studies;
· Creating Centers and Cooperatives;
· Creating New Ways to Study Renal Injury;
· Focusing More on Genetic Susceptibility;
· Developing a Renal Genomics Project;
· Increasing Research on Treatments; and
· Improving Grant Review at the National Institutes of Health.

The full plan is available at http://www.niddk.nih.gov/fund/other/archived-conferences/1999-1997/wholeRDRC.pdf