National Kidney Foundation

The National Kidney Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention, early detection, and treatment of kidney disease, headquartered in New York City with local affiliate offices across the country. It was founded in 1950 by Ada and Harry DeBold, originally as the Committee for Nephrosis Research, after the couple's son died of nephrotic syndrome; the organization adopted its current name in 1964. The foundation has shaped major American health policy, contributing to the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act of 1968 and the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, and in 1995 it created the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative to set clinical practice standards still used by physicians. It has published the American Journal of Kidney Diseases since 1981 and runs ongoing patient education, professional education, and advocacy programs, including a campaign called Voices for Kidney Health.