2026 PCEN Scientific Symposium

The Pediatric Centers of Excellence in Nephrology Present

2026 PCEN Scientific Symposium

Promoting Research in Childhood Kidney Diseases

The Pediatric Centers of Excellence in Nephrology (PCEN) invite you to their annual Scientific Symposium. This meeting will be an opportunity for you to hear about science and resources you can access from the PCENs to advance your pediatric kidney research! Please REGISTER to RSVP. There is no registration fee to attend the Symposium. You can also check out our new website (www.pcennetwork.weebly.com) for updates and to learn more about the Centers!

When: March 23^rd, 2026, 8:45 am–3:10 pm EST

Where: NIH/NIDDK, 6701 Rockledge Dr, Bethesda, MD 20817 (and Virtually via Zoom)

We are excited to share our vision for this symposium, including:

• Keynote Speakers: Dr. Pinaki Sarder and Dr. Simone Sanna-Cherchi will join us in person for their presentations.
• Posters: Learn about cutting edge pediatric nephrology research and explore collaborative opportunities! We are issuing a call for posters that is open to everyone, but you must attend the Symposium in person to be eligible. Please see below for submittal more instructions. Applications are due by Friday, January 23^rd.
• Previous Pilot Talks: One Pilot and Feasibility Program awardee from each institution will deliver a brief talk about their research and their experiences working with the Centers.
• Lightning Talks: Presenters will be invited to present short presentations about their research from the pool of poster submitters. The Centers will reach out with an invitation to present by Friday, February 13^th.
• Round Tables: Ask PCEN and Core leadership about available resources and how to access them during three 20-minute sessions and enhance your scientific pursuits. You can sign up for your top three Cores for these sessions when you register. This is a chance to ask your questions and benefit from a group discussion with leadership and your peers. Due to technical constraints, round table discussions will not be available for virtual attendees.
• Workshops: We are offering two concurrent workshops about AI in research: One focused on integrative navigation and analysis of spatial omics and histology and the other on electronic health record data.
• NIDDK Grant Session: We will host our Program Managers from NIDDK for a brief session about grants. Please come with any questions you have as Drs. Susan Mendley and Debbie Gipson talk about recent changes and policies around NIH grants and guidance in preparing your next application.

Please direct any questions about the Symposium to CHOPPCEN@chop.edu or pcen@wustl.edu.

For those attending in person:

We have a hotel block available at Embassy Suites by Hilton Bethesda, 6711 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda, MD 20817. There will be a shuttle provided by the hotel to take you to NIH Symposium location. Please use our LINK to reserve in our block for Symposium pricing. Dates will default to March 22–23 but can be adjusted. Reservations for the PCEN block MUST be made by Wednesday, February 5^th.

POSTER SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS

The PCENs are issuing another call for posters for this year’s Symposium! In addition to our keynotes and other presentations highlighting Center resources, we will be featuring YOUR research! This year, judges will rank posters and present the highest poster submitter a certificate of excellence. There is no monetary value to this achievement.

Please note that there are opportunities to join the symposium virtually, but the poster session will be available for those joining in-person only. 

We are collecting information for poster submittals with your registration here. This information includes:

• Name, email, institution, etc.
• Project Abstract (including title, co-authors, background, objectives, design/methods, results, and conclusions)
• A description of your research interests
• Career Stage
• Biosketch or CV
• Your interest in travel support

A small amount of travel support is available to trainees, post-docs, and junior faculty who are traveling within the US.

Please complete the survey to submit your poster. All posters and requests for travel support must be received by Friday, January 23^rd at 5:00pm EST.