By Bill Peckham
Dr. Chris Blagg was given a warm introduction recounting his long association with dialysis in Seattle including the very earliest days before being presented with the 2010 Award for Lifetime Achievement by the University of Missouri and the Annual Dialysis Conference:
for "advanced knowledge and patient care in the field of hemodialysis" ... The award will be presented to Dr. Blagg by Dr. Madhukar Misra, President of the International Society for Hemodialysis
Dr. Blagg has been a tireless advocate for more frequent dialysis and improved clinical outcomes.
Dr. Blagg has been an influence on me in my public advocacy. When I first lobbied Congress it was for bills to support more frequent dialysis, bills Dr. Blagg had helped to initiate. He is the Emeritus Director of the Northwest Kidney Centers and his full CV must be the size of a telephone book given his 290 articles and chapters, and all the speaking engagements he has done, all over the world (a wanderlust inspiring book of travel) and even talks near home like last year's RSN Patient Lifestyle Meeting. Dr. Blagg and the esteem he is held in by policy makers and advocates for optimal dialysis (intensive dialysis?) is a big reason why NKC is a small dialysis provider, with a BIG VOICE.
The University of Washington received four awards honoring their 50 year commitment to the provision of dialysis. This marks the start of a period of deserved honor and attention that will be directed at the University of Washington in the next couple of days (and then for months after). March 9th will mark the 50 year anniversary of the first treatment of Clyde Shields who turned out to be the first person to use chronic hemodialysis.
Shields was able to have repeat dialysis for the next 11 years because of Dr. Scribner's novel idea of using Teflon for a shunt - the Scribner shunt. No one knew it when Shields had his first treatment but the world had just changed. I'm looking forward to the recognition of the 50 year anniversary of the ... first conventional dialysis treatment? It's hard to say it was conventional ... the first successful treatment of CKD5 (or CRD 5D to meet the linguistic points made earlier during the final questions of the Home Dialysis Preconference). I'm not sure the exact right label but Shields and Scribner were the first.
Next there were several awards given for best abstracts. And then the Scribner Trailblazer Award which went to Prof Bernard Canaud:
Dr. Canaud will be honored for his exemplary contributions to the art and science of renal replacement therapy. Read his biography here (PDF link)
Dr. Canaud was additionally honored for his French Legion d'Honneur, an award over 200 years old:
...The French nephrologist Bernard Canaud has been recognized for his lifetime of medical achievement with the "Legion d'Honneur". Dr. Canaud is the deputy Secretary of ISHD. He received this award from Bernard Accoyer, President of the Assemblee Nationale, in Paris on November 4, 2009.
The Legion d'Honneur award was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 as a means of recognizing French citizens for extraordinary service and merit.
To close the program Dr. Blagg presented a slide show of historic photos starting with Kolff and then Merrill. Then to Scrib and Quinton. He showed photos of the old drum dialyzors and the first shunt, which used parts from a hardware store. A photo of the shunt in Clyde Shields arm (Shields was 39 years old with three young boys) and then Shields on dialysis.
I've seen versions of this talk before - this is what we arranged for Dr. Blagg to talk about at that RSN meeting - but I always hear something new. He covers a tremendously rich sweep of dialysis history through one picture after another. I think this slide showing doctor Joseph Eschbach with the anemic sheep he studied in a key step that led to the advent of EPO, is my favorite.
Seattle has such a notable record of innovation in the field of dialysis. Hearing them presented by Blagg in slide after slide reveals a great story of achievement. Congratulations to Dr. Blagg on his well deserved recognition, thank you for all you've done to improve the lives of those who use dialysis. And congratulations to the University of Washington, thank you for all the nephrologists you have produced and all the research you have fostered. The ceremony adjourned so that we could all talk over food and drink at a reception co-sponsored by the University of Missouri and the University of Washington.
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