Expo presenters, including representatives from multiple Chicago health systems, will offer information about the social determinants of health – the conditions in which people are born, live and work that contribute to their overall well-being.

“Few people fully understand the non-medical factors that influence their health,” said Dinee Simpson, MD, transplant surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and director of the African American Transplant Access Program. “Data show that a patient’s socioeconomic status, education, neighborhood, employment and access to health care can have a significant impact on one’s health, sometimes even more than genetics.”

The expo is being supported in part by a Northwestern University Racial Equity grant that Dr. Simpson received in partnership with the Endeleo Institute and the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois.  

“We’re addressing kidney disease by educating community members about its causes and treatments,” Dr. Simpson said. “We’re teaching people about how their diets affect their long-term health and impact kidney health. And we’re helping people understand the role they play in keeping each other healthy by providing each other social support and meaningful personal connections.”

One in three American adults is at risk for kidney disease, and people who are Black, Hispanic, Asian American, Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native may be at an increased risk. Jacqueline Burgess-Bishop, FACHE, chief executive officer of National Kidney Foundation of Illinois, said health disparities and inequities contribute to minority populations having higher rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and heart disease, all of which increase the risk for kidney disease.

“Black or African Americans are more than three times as likely and Hispanics or Latinos are 1.3 times more likely to have kidney failure compared to white Americans,” Burgess-Bishop said. “The key is to find kidney disease as early as possible and understand its risk factors before the trouble starts. Regular testing for everyone is important and is even more important for people who are at risk.”

The Endeleo Institute serves Washington Heights and its surrounding communities to improve health, education and economic outcomes so people live longer, healthier lives. The Rev. Rochelle Michael said the expo will give community members access to leaders in health care from throughout Chicago.

“A person’s health is closely linked to the health of their community, and we’ve invited healthcare leaders to share their knowledge with people who attend the expo,” Michael said. “We’ll be offering cardio drumming as a fun way to exercise, and panelists will discuss nutrition and medical specialties. It’s going to be a special event.”

The expo will celebrate the role that mothers and families play in the community’s overall health.

“We’re empowering people to learn more about their health so they can help their friends, family members and neighbors,” Burgess-Bishop said. “Education and prevention can reduce the devastating effects of kidney disease in our communities.”

To learn more about community initiatives at Northwestern Medicine, visit https://www.nm.org/about-us/community-initiatives.

CHICAGO – April 6, 2023 – Every day as a nephrologist at Northwestern Medicine, Aleksandra Gmurczyk, MD, sees patients who are suffering from kidney failure. She encourages them to take their medications as prescribed, go to all their dialysis appointments and to consider the possibility of a kidney transplant so they can live healthier, longer lives.

As a physician who also serves patients at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, she often speaks with veterans who would rather stay on dialysis than undergo organ transplantation. Many of her patients distrust the medical system, and some can’t be convinced that a kidney transplant could transform their health. Several years ago, she began to consider how she could change her patients’ opinions if she donated one of her own kidneys to someone in need.

“I wanted to help someone,” Dr. Gmurczyk, 46, said. “I know people can live healthy lives with one kidney, and I know the high need for living donor organs. I hoped by donating my kidney I’d help someone, and I also wanted to inspire others to donate.”

Dr. Gmurczyk’s only challenge? Finding the right person to receive her kidney. She thought of all her patients, and realized her colleagues at Northwestern Memorial Hospital would have to help her make the decision.

“It would have been difficult to choose one person and I couldn’t choose one,” Dr. Gmurczyk said. “I decided to put my donation into a pool and hoped it would help more than one person.”

On Feb. 16, 2023, Dr. Gmurczyk kicked off a kidney paired donation, which occurs when patients have people who are willing to donate their kidneys, but they aren’t good matches with their designated recipients. Instead, the donors swap recipients, and give their kidneys to patients who are a better match. Dr. Gmurczyk donated her kidney to a hard-to-match Virginia patient she had never met, and that patient’s husband donated his kidney to a Northwestern Medicine patient in Chicago.

“It’s the transplant world’s version of the perfect ‘domino effect,’” said John Friedewald, MD, medical director of kidney and pancreas transplantation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “As a nephrologist, Dr. Gmurczyk understands the benefits and risks of becoming a living organ donor, and every day she sees patients who need kidneys. Our entire team was humbled to support her as she went through this process. We weren’t surprised that she chose to give the gift of life, but we were all moved by this experience.”

Living donor kidneys can function for about twice as long as deceased donor kidneys. Kidneys from living donors are also more likely to function right away, helping recipients recover more quickly.

Dr. Gmurczyk has chronicled her journey on social media and raised awareness about living kidney donation by sharing the facts with her followers.

“I see how hard life can be for patients on dialysis,” Dr. Gmurczyk said. “It’s like a part-time job with appointments that are three times a week and four hours per session. They can’t travel, go overseas and it can be tough for them to work. It’s heartbreaking.”

Art Reyes of Chicago knows firsthand how lifechanging a kidney failure diagnosis can be. After diabetes caused irreversible kidney damage, he began dialysis to remove waste products from his blood in November 2021. Prior to his illness, he and his wife enjoyed spending time with their many nephews and nieces. Dialysis forced him to focus more on his health and his next medical appointments, and it stole precious time from his family.

“It was very depressing, and you kind of lose hope,” Reyes, 51, said. “You hear all the statistics, and that it can take up to eight or 10 years to get a deceased donor. After we found out my family members weren’t a good match for me, I was thinking I should just enjoy the time I had left.”

Then, Reyes received a shocking call: if he was willing to receive an anonymous donor kidney, he could have surgery in two weeks.

“I was counting the days until surgery,” he said. “I knew the donor could back out at any time, and then the dream would be over.”

But what Reyes didn’t know was that Dr. Gmurczyk was committed to her donation. She prepared for surgery and then began the typical donor journey. She had a short hospital stay after the donation and didn’t know she’d helped more than one patient until weeks after surgery.

“It was exactly what I’d hoped for, and my recovery was exactly what we tell donors to expect,” Dr. Gmurczyk said. “I even walked home after my surgery. I returned to work two weeks after I donated and was just a little tired each night after work. I’m so glad I made the decision to donate, and I encourage others to explore the process. It’s much easier than you think.”

Dr. Gmurczyk may have already inspired one of her patients to get a kidney transplant. For years, she had been trying to convince the patient to consider the surgery, and following her donation, the patient decided to start the evaluation process.

Currently 90,000 people in the United States are waiting for a kidney donation and 85 percent of patients waiting for organ donation are waiting for a kidney, according to Donate Life America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates more 1 in 7 adults in the United States have chronic kidney disease.

“If you are a healthy adult and you think you may be an eligible kidney donor, I encourage you explore the possibility,” Dr. Gmurczyk said. “All of my appointments prior to donation were done in one day, and I only needed a short amount of down time after my surgery. I feel like I benefited as much as the recipients, because I know how much my decision to donate will help improve their lives.”

People who are interested in becoming kidney donors can visit nmlivingdonor.org.

The Northwestern Medicine Organ Transplant Center is a leader in research, innovation and patient care in the Midwest. The team spans the spectrum of basic science, translational and clinical research, and offers novel approaches to immunosuppression, including human clinical trials in immune tolerance, state-of-the-art genomic and proteomic immune monitoring, and health services and outcomes research.