UAB CRRT Academy 2026 will be held on September 2nd-4th, 2026.
THE PRE-COURSE AND MAIN COURSE SHOULD BE PURCHASED SEPERATELY
- POCUS Pre-course September 2nd, 2026, from 7:30am-2:00pm
- Main Course September 2nd, 2026, at 2:30pm-September 4th, 2026, at 4:30pm
Registration will be open from June 8th, 2026 – August 28th, 2026
The UAB CRRT Academy was founded by Dr. Ashita Tolwani and has been an annual event since 2007. The academy includes attendees coming from all over the United States as well as from overseas. In addition to lectures, we have hands-on workshops, simulations, and problem-solving sessions to allow an in-depth understanding of CRRT.
The symposium is a two-day event, plus a day of Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) pre-course. After a day of didactic content and case studies, participants spend the second-viewing hands-on using simulation.
Agenda
Day 1: Laying the Foundation
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2026
POCUS Bootcamp runs from 7:30AM through 2:00 PM with a working lunch. The main course begins at 2:30 PM, delivering all foundational didactics in one focused afternoon to prepare participants for Thursday’s workshops.
PRE-COURSE: POCUS BOOTCAMP
7:30 AM – 2:00 PM
POCUS Bootcamp: Fluid & Hemodynamics in the ICU
Hands-on rotations with standardized patients and UAB faculty. Working lunch included.
Speaker / Faculty: Micah Whitson, MD; William Beaubien-Souligny, MD; UAB Faculty
2:00 – 2:30 PM
Break & Transition
MAIN COURSE: FOUNDATIONS OF CRRT │ Main Conference Room │ 2:30 – 6:30 PM
2:30 – 2:50 PM
Welcome, Course Road Map & Pre-Test
Interactive polling and agenda overview
Speaker / Faculty: Ashita Tolwani, MD
2:50 – 3:30 PM
The Right Patient, Right Time: CRRT Initiation in the ICU
Speaker / Faculty: Edward Siew, MD
3:30 – 4:15 PM
Blueprint for Flow: Crafting the CRRT Prescription
Modality, dose, and delivered therapy
Speaker / Faculty: Ashita Tolwani, MD
4:15 – 4:55 PM
Keeping the Circuit Alive: Anticoagulation Strategies in Real-World CRRT
Speaker / Faculty: Thiago Reis, MD
4:55 – 5:15 PM
CRRT Fluids Decoded: Choosing the Right Solution for the Right Patient
Speaker / Faculty: Rajesh Speer, PharmD
5:15 – 5:45 PM
Circuit Command: Access, Pressures & Real-Time Troubleshooting
Speaker / Faculty: Ankit Sakhuja, MD
5:45 – 6:15 PM
Membrane Matters: What Your Filter Is Really Doing
Speaker / Faculty: Luis Juncos, MD
6:15 – 6:30 PM
Faculty Panel: Day 1 Take-Home Pearls
Rapid Q&A and bridge to Thursday workshops
Speaker / Faculty: Ashita Tolwani, MD + Faculty
EVENING
6:30 – 7:00 PM
Top Abstract Oral Presentations
7:00 – 8:30 PM
Welcome Reception, Poster Viewing & CRRT Bowl Team Formation
Teams of 4–5 formed for Friday’s competition — cross-institutional mixing encouraged
Day 2: Get Your Hands Dirty
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
Device fundamentals and morning workshops open the day, followed by Keynote I, the CRRT Program Building lunch session, the Drug Dosing Lab, and three afternoon workshops.
EARLY MORNING: DEVICE FUNDAMENTALS
7:30 – 8:10 AM
Under the Hood: What Your CRRT Machine Is Actually Doing
Speaker / Faculty: Rick DaSilva, RN
MORNING WORKSHOPS
8:10 – 8:20 AM
Introduction to Immersive & Case-Based Workshops
Speaker / Faculty: Ashita Tolwani, MD
8:20 – 11:10 AM
Morning Workshops (50-Minute Rotations)
Participants attend all three sessions
8:20 – 9:10 AM
Zero to Hero: First-Year Fellow CRRT Bootcamp
Faculty: Pedro Teixeira, MD; Michael Connor, MD; Daniele Escouto, MD
Room 2, 2nd Fl
9:20 – 10:10 AM
Alarm Attack: Hands-On Circuit Rescue Mission
Faculty: Catherine Wells, DNP; Katrina Eggleston, RN; Wendy McConville, RN; Rick DaSilva, RN
Main Conf Room
10:20 – 11:10 AM
Citrate Lab: The Calcium Escape Room
Faculty: Lenar Yessayan, MD; Thiago Reis, MD
Room 3, 3rd Fl
11:10 – 11:30 AM
Break
Visit industry booths
KEYNOTE LECTURE I
11:30 AM – 12:10 PM
Keynote Lecture
Volume Overload: What Is It, How Do We Measure It, and How Should We Manage It in Critically Ill Patients With or At Risk for Kidney Disease?
Speaker / Faculty: Raghavan Murugan, MD
LUNCH PROGRAM
12:10 – 12:40 PM
CRRT Program Architecture: From Protocols to Performance
A practical framework for building, organizing, and sustaining a CRRT program
Speaker / Faculty: Jorge Cerda, MD
12:40 – 1:25 PM
Interactive Lunch Workshop: From Chaos to Quality
Attendees work through a CRRT program checklist and tabletop implementation exercise over lunch
Speaker / Faculty: Jorge Cerda, MD; Michael Connor, MD; Daniele Escouto, MD; Rajesh Speer, PharmD; Catherine Wells, DNP
1:25 – 1:35 PM
Break
Visit industry booths
AFTERNOON DIDACTICS & DRUG DOSING LAB
1:35 – 2:35 PM
Sodium Tug-of-War: Taming Dysnatremia on CRRT
Speaker / Faculty: Lenar Yessayan, MD
2:35 – 3:20 PM
Drug Dosing Lab: Pharmacy Meets the Filter
20-min didactic foundation followed by 25-min team-based interactive cases
Speaker / Faculty: Jessica Wallace, PharmD; Rajesh Speer, PharmD; Arnaldo Lopez-Ruiz, MD
3:20 – 3:40 PM
Break
Visit industry booths
AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS
3:40 – 6:00 PM
Afternoon Workshops (40-Minute Rotations)
Participants attend all three sessions
3:40 – 4:20 PM
CRRT Café: Nutrition, Phosphorus & Metabolic Management
Faculty: Michael Connor, MD; Arnaldo Lopez-Ruiz, MD; Rajesh Speer, PharmD
Room 2, 2nd Fl
4:30 – 5:10 PM
Dial It In: Adaptive CRRT & Dynamic Dosing
Faculty: Daniele Escouto, MD; Ashita Tolwani, MD; Lenar Yessayan, MD
Main Conf Room
5:20 – 6:00 PM
Parallel Circuits: CRRT + ECMO, ECCO₂R & Liver Support
Faculty: Jean Deschamps, MD; Ankit Sakhuja, MD; Keith Wille, MD; Katrina Eggleston, RN
Room 3, 3rd Fl
6:00 – 6:15 PM
Wrap-Up
Wrap-up and industry booths
Day 3: Compete & Look Ahead
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2026
Morning lectures and Keynote II lead into the Challenge Bowl, where the winning team advances directly to the Master Class finale. The afternoon covers liberation, recovery, and frontier science before closing.
MORNING: OUTCOMES & OPTIMIZATION
8:00 – 8:40 AM
Raising the Bar: CRRT Quality Metrics That Change Practice
Speaker / Faculty: Javier Neyra, MD
8:40 – 9:20 AM
Trial by Evidence: RCTs Reshaping Critical Care Nephrology
Speaker / Faculty: Michael Connor, MD
9:20 – 9:40 AM
Break
Visit industry booths
KEYNOTE LECTURE II
9:40 – 10:20 AM
Keynote Lecture
The Future of Critical Care Nephrology and Extracorporeal Support
Speaker / Faculty: Marlies Ostermann, MD
10:20 – 10:30 AM
Transition
CRRT CHALLENGE BOWL & MASTER CLASS
10:30 – 11:30 AM
CRRT Challenge Bowl: Battle of the Filters
60-minute game-board competition with categories, point values, and bonus circuit-pressure interpretation cases • Winning team advances to Master Class
Speaker / Faculty: Ashita Tolwani, MD + Faculty Judges
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
CRRT Master Class: The Final Case
Winning team works through an evolving ICU case with expert faculty judging and audience discussion
Speaker / Faculty: Ashita Tolwani, MD; Jean Deschamps, MD + Faculty
12:30 – 1:30 PM
Lunch & Industry Talk
CRRT machine platforms in practice (Non-CME)
AFTERNOON: LIBERATION, RECOVERY & THE FRONTIER
1:30 – 2:00 PM
The Off-Ramp: CRRT Liberation, Transition & StepDown Strategies
Speaker / Faculty: Pedro Teixeira, MD
2:00 – 2:30 PM
Life After the Filter: Renal Recovery & Long-Term Trajectories
Speaker / Faculty: William Beaubien-Souligny, MD
2:30 – 3:00 PM
Beyond Filtration: Hemoadsorption & Blood Purification in Sepsis
Speaker / Faculty: Javier Neyra, MD
3:00 – 3:30 PM
Algorithm at the Bedside: AI in AKI Detection & CRRT Optimization
Debate format — PRO and CON
Speaker / Faculty: Jay Koyner, MD; Lili Chan, MD
3:30 – 3:45 PM
Break
Visit industry booths
CLOSING
3:45 – 4:15 PM
Post-Test Reveal & Discussion
Speaker / Faculty: Ashita Tolwani, MD
4:15 – 4:30 PM
Closing Cheers, Awards & Take-Home Pearls
Bowl winner, Master Class champion, and top abstract announcements
Speaker / Faculty: Ashita Tolwani, MD