Coppo Rosanna
G Ital Nefrol. 2011 Sep-Oct;28(5):459-61.
The work in nephrology is at risk of being considered under a restrictive view of a medium-level, merely technological science. One cannot avoid dialysis, when needed, and the care of renal patients is going to be limited to the final endpoint, without paying any attention to renal science as the way to prevent and treat renal disease and its possible complications. This view faces the recent need of saving money in front of an economy which can no longer support what is not strictly necessary from a healthcare point of view. A scientific society like the Italian Society of Nephrology has the mission to prepare its members to be strong enough to be a valuable counterpart to politicians and economists. The future is based on enabling the next generation to confront a new and difficult time. For this reason the Italian Society of Nephrology has granted a national award to the best research proposed by small and peripheral centers, where the infrastructure is not sufficient to perform high-level research. The aim is to encourage interest in new fields, thereby triggering a virtuous circle of competition and personal and group outcome improvement. Research is the means to improve our knowledge and empower ourselves in front of our political and economic counterparts while networking with colleagues in a common field. Besides the final results, encouraging research among young nephrologists at peripheral centers is a way to improve nephrology in a broad sense.
肾脏病学领域的工作面临着被视为一门中等水平、仅仅是技术科学的狭隘观点的风险。当有需要时，透析是无法避免的，而对肾病患者的护理将局限于最终结局，而不关注作为预防和治疗肾病及其可能并发症手段的肾脏科学。在当前经济形势下，从医疗保健角度来看，已无法再支持任何非严格必要的事物，这种观点正面临着节省资金的迫切需求。像意大利肾脏病学会这样的科学协会有责任让其成员足够强大，成为政治家和经济学家有价值的对话者。未来取决于使下一代能够应对新的困难时期。因此，意大利肾脏病学会向小型和周边中心提出的最佳研究授予了国家奖项，这些中心的基础设施不足以开展高水平研究。目的是激发对新领域的兴趣，从而引发竞争以及个人和团队成果提升的良性循环。研究是增进我们知识的手段，使我们在面对政治和经济对手时更有底气，同时在共同领域与同行建立联系。除了最终成果外，鼓励周边中心的年轻肾脏病学家开展研究也是从广义上改善肾脏病学的一种方式。
