About IRIS

What Is IRIS?

IRIS is the International Renal Interest Society. IRIS was created to advance the scientific understanding of kidney disease in small animals. It was originally organized at the 8th Annual Congress of the European Society of Veterinary Internal Medicine in Vienna, Austria, in 1998, with the support of Novartis Animal Health acquired by Elanco Animal Health, a Division of Eli Lilly and Company, which provides funding and organizational assistance for IRIS until 2020.

IRIS is led by a board of 14 independent veterinarians with particular expertise in nephrology, from eight different countries. The mission of IRIS is to help veterinary practitioners better diagnose, understand and treat renal disease in cats and dogs. In order to achieve this mission, the group investigates ways to accurately diagnose early signs of chronic kidney diseases and acute kidney injury and explores novel therapies for these diseases.

One of the organization's primary objectives is to establish an internationally recognized set of guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases in small animals.

As there is still much to learn in the field of veterinary nephrology, the members of the IRIS Board are dedicated to scientific efforts to study renal disease in order to advance our approach to this important problem.