Satellite Healthcare's Extramural Grants Program (EGP)

On April 20, I had the opportunity to be part of a working dinner at Oveja Negra in Santana Row, San Jose. The dinner was organized by Satellite Healthcare's researchers for the Extramural Grants Program. As one of four dialysis patients, we were asked to give our feedback and rankings on six application proposals for projects to benefit folks like us.

As the researchers mentioned, historically, much of Satellite's funding would go to lab experiments and proposals that might take years to fully develop and test. Despite this monetary and time investment, projects like these would often only yield a "once-in-a-blue-moon" success. So, the researchers decided to try something different, and allocate a certain level of funding for projects that might be of benefit now, and thus provide measurable "wins" for patient health that wouldn't take years to discover. Sounds like a good idea to me! As part of their research, they wanted input from real patients.

I'd like to thank all the folks I met that night: the patients, doctor, and researchers were all terrific. I'm glad my awesome nephrologist, Dr. Graham Abra, recommended me to be part of this discussion. 

Oveja Negra is inside the Hotel Valencia. All the food was good, but the best item was the fish! I believe it was cod.