Our beautiful baby has grown into a moody, hormonal teen.  That’s right, it’s year 14 of NephMadness!  Whether this is your first time or you are a seasoned veteran, we have all the info you need for NephMadness 2026:

What is NephMadness?

NephMadness is a free online, CME-granting, evidenced-based, noncommercial learning initiative that leverages the tools of social media to teach about the latest and greatest breakthroughs in the field of nephrology! (From the 2017 explainer post)

The idea is based on March Madness, the annual NCAA college basketball tournament. Instead of basketball teams, we’ve selected the hottest nephrology topics to compete in NephMadness. You can learn more on the history of the madness in this Editorial: NephMadness 2015: Nephrology as a Cornerstone of Medicine. Also, check out this short video explainer from Cathy Quinlan (@KidneyCathy – @cathyquinlan.bsky.social).

What do I need to do?

1. Read the write-ups for this year’s regions here.
2. Submit an individual or team bracket here by 3pm ET on March 31st, 2026.
3. Discuss your picks on the social media platform of your choice with #NephMadness!

What are the teams and regions?

There are 8 main nephrology topics (REGIONS) with 2 subtopics (TEAMS) in the tournament.

• IgA Nephropathy: New B-Cell Targets versus Complement Inhibitors
  Selection Committee Member: Laura Mariani @LauraMarianiMD
  Writer: Alessandra Tomasi @AleTomasiMD
• Artificial Intelligence: Computational Pathology versus Natural Language Processing
  Selection Committee Members: Lili Chan & Kuang-Yu Jen
  Writers: Neil Evans & Aditya Yelamanchi
• Animal House: Dogs versus Cats
  Selection Committee Members: Autumn Harris & Kelly Hyndman @DrKeeksPhD
  Writers: Sarah Street & Susan DiGiovanni
  
• Trolls of Transplantation: BK versus CMV
  Selection Committee Members: Sam Kant @kantsmd & Jeannina Smith @germatologist.bsky.social
  Writers: Hariharasudan Natarajan @HariNataraj94 – @beanbuddy.bsky.social & Caitlyn Vlasschaert @DrFlashHeart – @drflashheart.bsky.social
• C3G: C3G Diagnosis versus C3G Treatment
  Selection Committee Member: Bradley Dixon
  Writer: Aarushi Varshney
• Cerebronephrology: in CKD versus in ESKD
  Selection Committee Member: David Drew
  Writers: Colton Jensen
• POCUS: POCUS in AKI versus POCUS in ESKD
  Selection Committee Members: Mohamed Hassan Kamel & Vandana Niyyar @vandyniyyar
  Writers: Priyal Sakhuja
• Genetics: PKD Masqueraders versus Fabry Treatment
  Selection Committee Member: Eric Wallace
  Writers: Steven Clapp & Alyssa Steitz

This year’s official bracket:

Resources for groups:

DOWNLOAD NEPHMADNESS 2026 BRACKET

DOWNLOAD POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

DOWNLOAD PDF PRESENTATION

PRESENTATION ON GOOGLE SLIDES

Who picks the NephMadness champion?

A 9-member Blue Ribbon Panel selects the winners of each round in NephMadness. For each matchup, they are asked to pick the team that, in their opinion, will cause the most practice change in nephrology over the next 5 years. Here are the members of this year’s BRP:

• Timothy Yau @Maximal_Change – @maximalchange.bsky.social
• Prabir Roy-Chaudhury @proychaudhuryMD – @roy-chaudhury.bsky.social
• Kirk Campbell @kirkcampbell
• Meredith Atkinson
• Lori-Ann Fisher
• William Whittier
• Yara Mouawad
• Christel Wekon-Kemeni@therealdrdub – @therealdrdub.bsky.social
• Giftay Kingston

Read more about the rationale behind the BRP in this Editorial: NephMadness After 5 Years: A Recap and Game Plan for the Future

What’s the Schedule?

• March 1: Bracket entry opens
• March 31: Deadline for bracket submission 
• April 2: First round results | Effluent 8 named
• April 6: Effluent 8 results | Filtered 4 named
• April 8: Filtered Four results | Finalists named
• April 10: NephMadness 2024 Champion crowned

CME and MOC

US-based physicians can earn 1.0 CME credit and 1.0 MOC per region through NKF PERC (detailed instructions here). The CME and MOC activity will expire on June 1, 2026.

Competitions

Group Competitions: Highest Score, Most Entries, and Best Party

Winners will be featured on the Winners blog post at the conclusion of NephMadness

• Highest Score: Complete the question on the bracket submission site on whether you are submitting an entry on behalf of a group, adding “OFFICIAL” to the group name
• Most Entries: Complete the question on the bracket submission site on whether you are part of a group and add the group name (everyone in the group should use the same group name to avoid confusion)
• Best Party: Take a photo (or multiple) of your party and tag #NephMadnessParty

Social Media Competitions: Best X/Bluesky Poster and Best Blogger

Winners will be featured on the Winners blog post at the conclusion of NephMadness

What are the Prizes?

Grand Prizes: Top Overall Score, Top Medical Student Score, Top Resident Score, Top Fellow Score, and Top Attending Score

Each Grand Prize winner will receive complimentary year-long personal subscription to Advances in Kidney Disease and Health and Nature Reviews Nephrology

That’s it – we hope you’ll enjoy the fun and learning during NephMadness 2026!

The 2026 NephMadness Executive Team:

• Matt Sparks @Nephro_Sparks – @nephrosparks.bsky.social
• Anna Burgner @anna_burgner – @annaburgner.bsky.social
• Anna Vinnikova @kidneywars – @kidneywars.bsky.social
• Jeffrey Kott @jrkott27 – @jrkott27.bsky.social
• Ana Catalina Alvarez-Elías @catochita – @catochita.bsky.social
• Dia Waguespack @d_r_waguespack
• Samira Farouk @ssfarouk.bsky.social
• Krithika Mohan @krithicism

Submit your picks! | @NephMadness | @nephmadness.bsky.social | NephMadness 2026