The success of the journal is predicated in large part on our ability to obtain discerning and timely reviews of high quality from our referees. The editorial staff publicly acknowledges with gratitude and appreciation the individuals listed below who have participated in the review process during the past year. This list includes the names of early career investigators and trainees invited by our referees to participate in the review process. Our sincere thanks for diligently and generously providing this critical service in the support and success of JASN.Please open the PDF to see a list of all reviewers from 2023. 
2023 TY JASN Reviewers.pdf
2024 TOP 5 REVIEWERS
Peer review is integral to publishing high-quality, valid research. JASN is grateful for the contributions of its many reviewers and would like to recognize the top five reviewers of 2024 for their time, insights, and dedication. They share their thoughts on the importance of peer review.
Andrew Samuel Beenken, MD, PhD
Alessandra Boletta, PhD
"I believe in the value of peer review and in the need for each of us to receive feedback on our work that, for as negative as it can sometimes be, must always be constructive and respectful of other people’s work."
Edouard Fu, PhD
"Reviewing for JASN allows me to see the latest and greatest in nephrology first-hand. At the same time, it is incredibly exciting to help authors improve their manuscript and thereby elevate the quality of research in the field."
Reiko Inagi, PhD
“Among the important elements of peer review, the originality and novelty of the working hypothesis, as well as the scientific reliability and consistency of the data, are deeply connected to the readability of the paper. Not only writing papers but also having the perspective of a peer reviewer is extremely valuable for becoming a good writer.”
Opeyemi A. Olabisi, MD, PhD
“JASN attracts highly significant manuscripts from some of the most innovative investigators around the globe. It has been my pleasure to review some of these manuscripts.”
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BEST OF ASN JOURNALS 2024
The editors of CJASN, JASN, and Kidney360 proudly present the high-impact articles that were discussed by the journal editorial teams during the “Best of ASN Journals: JASN, CJASN, and Kidney360” session at Kidney Week 2024. These articles highlight innovative clinical, translational, and basic research on the topics of AKI and Intensive Care Unit Nephrology, Glomerular Diseases, Therapeutic Advances in CKD, and Care of Patients Undergoing Long-Term Dialysis. These articles appeared online in 2024.
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2023 EDITORS' CHOICE ARTICLES
From a broad range of findings appearing in JASN’s pages in 2023, the Editor-in-Chief has selected 5 original investigations to highlight as this year's editors' choice articles. These articles reflect a breadth of basic research, translational science, and clinical investigation by nephrology researchers.
Effects of Empagliflozin on Fluid Overload, Weight and Blood Pressure in Chronic Kidney Disease
Kaitlin J. Mayne, Natalie Staplin, David F. Keane, et al. |
EMPA-KIDNEY was a placebo-controlled trial of empagliflozin in patients with chronic kidney disease at risk of progression. In a
substudy in JASN that included 660 participants, average baseline absolute “Fluid Overload” (an estimate of excess extracellular water) was 0.4 L. Compared with placebo, the overall average absolute “Fluid Overload” difference in those taking empagliflozin was -0.24 L, with similar-sized differences at 2- and 18-months. Total body water differences comprised a between-group difference of -0.49 L in extracellular water (including the -0.24 L “Fluid Overload” difference) and a -0.30 L difference in intracellular water. There was no significant effect of empagliflozin on bioimpedance-derived fat mass. The between-group difference in weight was -0.7 kg. |
Genetic Inhibition of APOL1 Pore-Forming Function Prevents APOL1-Mediated Kidney Disease
Adriana M. Hung, Victoria A. Assimon, Hua-Chang Chen, et al. |
African Americans are at increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in part due to high-risk variants in gene that codes for apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1), a circulating component of the innate immune system. In a
study published in JASN that included 121,492 adults of African ancestry (plus 14,386 and 14,704 participants in 2 replication cohorts), a different
APOL1 variant,
p.N264K, was shown to reduce CKD and kidney failure risks among carriers of
APOL1 high-risk variants to levels comparable with those of individuals with
APOL1 low-risk variants. In mechanistic experiments,
APOL1 p.N264K blocked APOL1 pore-forming function and ion channel conduction and reduced toxicity of
APOL1 high-risk variants.
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Detecting Neonatal AKI by Serum Cystatin C
Xin Xu, Sheng Nie, Hong Xu, et al. |
In a
JASN study, cystatin C was a sensitive biomarker for identifying acute kidney injury (AKI) in newborns at elevated risk of in-hospital mortality, and a proposed cystatin C–based criteria (CyNA) of AKI detected 6.5 times as many cases as the modified Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) creatinine criteria. CyNA criteria defined AKI by a serum cystatin C of ≥2.2 mg/L or an increase in cystatin C of ≥25% during the neonatal period. The study included 52,333 hospitalized neonates in China. Among 45,839 with measurements of both cystatin C and creatinine, 9.8%, 0.8%, and 0.8% had AKI detected by CyNA only, by KDIGO criteria only, and by both criteria, respectively. |
Structural Racism, Historical Redlining, and Incidence of Kidney Failure in US Cities, 2012–2019
Kevin H Nguyen, Rachel Buckle-Rashid, Rebecca Thorsness, et al. |
In a
study published in JASN that included adults with incident kidney failure living in 141 US metropolitan areas, age-adjusted and sex-adjusted kidney failure incidence rates in 2021–2019 were higher in census tracts designated as grade D (hazardous) by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation under historical discriminatory redlining compared with census tracts designated as grade A (average, 740.7 per million versus 326.5 per million, respectively, a difference of 414.1 per million). Adjusted incidence rates for Black persons in grade D census tracts were higher than for Black persons residing in grade A census tracts (average, 1227.1 per million versus 1030.5 per million, respectively, a difference of 196.6 per million). |
Genome-Wide Association Study of CKD Progression
Cassianne Robinson-Cohen, Jefferson L. Triozzi, Bryce Rowan, et al. |
In
research published in JASN, investigators performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline among 116,870 participants with chronic kidney disease—defined by 2 outpatient eGFR measurements of <60 ml/min/1.73 m2, obtained 90–365 days apart—from the Million Veteran Program and Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s DNA biobank. Three loci (2 of them novel) were associated with longitudinal eGFR decline. In addition to the known
UMOD/PDILT locus, variants within
BICC1 were associated with differences in longitudinal eGFR slope. Variants within
HEATR4 were also associated with differences in eGFR decline, but only among Black/African American individuals without diabetes. An
accompanying editorial highlights questions for future analyses. |
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