About the challenge

Today, more than half a million Americans receive life-sustaining maintenance dialysis.

Current dialysis technology, both in care facilities and at home, consumes large amounts of water and power. In a single year, hemodialysis globally requires 265 billion liters of water and uses 1.62 billion kW/h of power. As water and power resources become scarcer — due to more persistent water and power shortages and acute disasters — patients’ lives will be at risk. A growing patient population for maintenance dialysis will only intensify the need for innovation in treatment approaches that improve care and ensure sustainable treatments.

The sustainability challenges in the treatment of kidney diseases present an opportunity for innovation and collaboration in treatment across the dialysis ecosystem.

KidneyX, a public-private partnership between HHS and the American Society of Nephrology to accelerate innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases, recognizes the urgency of addressing these challenges. While long-term therapies like artificial kidneys and regenerative cell therapies hold promise for the future, the hundreds of thousands of American people living with kidney failure today urgently need solutions that address the kidney care system’s vulnerability in the short term.

The KidneyX Sustainability Prize seeks innovations to reduce water or power usage during dialysis care. This challenge aims to seize opportunities for sustainability by identifying and supporting solutions to reduce the resource demands of maintenance dialysis. The KidneyX Sustainability Prize anticipates that those solutions will help drive meaningful change in the sustainability of kidney care.

The prize invites proposals from a diverse community of innovators — including patients, healthcare providers, engineers, and entrepreneurs. Solutions may involve technological or process approaches, and all disciplines and sectors are encouraged to develop KidneyX solutions that reduce water or power usage during dialysis and promote equitable access to care.

Challenge structure

This challenge has only one phase.

Use of prize funds

Under this announcement, HHS is seeking to award prizes, not grants. The purpose of this challenge is to reward innovation, not provide financial assistance, and HHS does not limit how winners may use prize funds awarded to them. Therefore, winners may use prize funds from this challenge to further advance their solutions, but they are not required to do so.