[The need to expand research in renal disease among peripheral centers of nephrology - President's letter].

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.