With a shared goal of advocating on behalf of the kidney community, the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) will award $23,250 to the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland (NKF-MD) over the next 12 months.

As part of a Gold Level Annual Partnership arrangement, NKF-MD will receive $10,000 as a research grant to study chronic kidney disease and/or urinary tract diseases. The remaining funds will support the following events:

• Rappel for Kidney Health – Signature fundraiser where participants raise a minimum of $1,000 to go “over the edge” of the Hyatt Regency Baltimore – June 24 & 25, 2016.
• Beyond Dialysis – Education conference for patients and their caregivers – Spring 2017.
• Renal Rounds – Presentations of renal pathology cases to nephrologists and medical professionals –October 2017.
• Greater Baltimore Kidney Walk – One of the nation’s largest walks, annually attracting over 6,000 people to the Camden Yards Sports Complex - April 2017.

This renewed commitment facilitates continued collaboration between UMMC and NKF-MD, who are each committed to building awareness, driving prevention and supporting the treatment of kidney disease, which affects 26 million Americans annually.

“The University of Maryland Medical Center is at the forefront of research and the treatment of individuals with kidney disease,” said NKF-MD President & CEO Traci A. Barnett, M.B.A. “We are delighted that they have been a key Foundation supporter since 1998 – having contributed over $150,000 – and this enhanced partnership is a WIN-WIN-WIN.”

About the University of Maryland Medical Center
The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) comprises two hospitals in Baltimore: an 800-bed teaching hospital — the flagship institution of the 12-hospital University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) — and a 200-bed community teaching hospital, UMMC Midtown Campus. UMMC is a national and regional referral center for trauma, cancer care, neurocare, cardiac care, diabetes and endocrinology, women's and children's health, and has one of the largest solid organ transplant programs in the country. For more information, visit www.umm.edu.

About the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland
Serving central and western Maryland, the Delmarva Peninsula and portions of Virginia and West Virginia, the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland is the area’s only voluntary health agency dedicated to preventing kidney and urinary tract diseases, improving the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by these diseases, and increasing the availability of all organs for transplantation. For more information, visit www.kidneymd.org.