Association (AMA) Manual of Style, perhaps the most authoritative and widely used guide for medical writing in English, contained no recommendations regarding nomenclature for kidney disease and function in the edition (10th) available at the time of the conference.19 Several kidney subspecialty journals have style guides listing nomenclature preferences, but these are not generally comprehensive, nor are they shared among journals. Conference attendees agreed that the KDIGO guideline criteria for definitions and classifications of acute and chronic kidney disease can provide the basis for nomenclature standardization (Supplementary Table S1).6,7 Patient-centeredness and precision Patient-centeredness. The Health and Medicine Division of the US National Academies of Sciences defines patientcentered care as “Providing care that is respectful of, and responsive to, individual patient preferences, needs and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions.” 20 One of the 10 general principles recommended for redesign of the health system is that “Knowledge is shared and information flows freely. Patients should have unfettered access to their own medical information and to clinical knowledge. Clinicians and patients should communicate effectively and share information.” There is some evidence that patient-centeredness is being emphasized in medical journals.21 In principle, the terms used to describe kidney function and disease should be understandable to all, with acknowledgement of variation in the level of health literacy. Use of multiple terms with similar meaning can lead to confusion, as can use of terms that forecast the future (such as “pre-dialysis”) rather than describe the present. Precision. A general definition of precision is “the fact, condition or quality of being precise: exactness, accuracy.” 22 How medicine is defined and understood is changing rapidly from a descriptive, disease-based categorization in which multiple pathogenetic pathways may be conflated to a mechanism-based categorization that will promote more precise management of clinical problems. The latter approach, in which a molecular profile is added to the clinical and morphologic profile, has already revolutionized diagnosis and treatment in oncology. In nephrology, the ongoing Kidney Precision Medicine Project, funded by the US National Institutes of Health, seeks to ethically obtain and evaluate kidney biopsies from participants with AKI or CKD; create a kidney tissue atlas; define disease subgroups; and identify Table 1 | Goals of the conference Goals and guiding principles Comments and examples Goal: Revise and refine the nomenclature to describe kidney function and disease Focus on general description of acute and chronic kidney disease and general kidney measures, rather than specific kidney diseases and specific measures of function and structure Principles for nomenclature: Patient-centered “Kidney” vs. “renal” or “nephro-” “Failure” vs. “end-stage” Precise CKD and AKI definitions and stages vs. other descriptions of disease and disease severity Specific kidney measures (GFR, tubular function, and markers of damage/injury vs. nonspecific “kidney function”) Consistent with KDIGO guidelines To aid guideline implementation Main questions to answer Do you agree that articles in the English-language medical literature should generally use: 1. “kidney” rather than “renal” or “nephro-” when referring to kidney disease and kidney function? 2. “kidney failure” with appropriate descriptions of presence or absence of symptoms, signs, and treatment rather than “end-stage” disease”? 3. KDIGO definition and classification of AKD and AKI rather than alternative descriptions to define and classify severity of AKD and AKI? 4. KDIGO definition and classification of CKD rather than alternative descriptions to define and classify severity of CKD? 5. specific kidney measures (such as albuminuria or decreased GFR) rather than “abnormal” or “reduced” kidney function to describe alterations in kidney structure and function? AKD, acute kidney diseases and disorders; AKI, acute kidney failure; CKD, chronic kidney disease; GFR, glomerular filtration rate; KDIGO, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes. AS Levey et al.: KDIGO nomenclature for kidney function and disease KDIGO conference report Kidney International (2020) 97, 1117–1129 1119 cells, pathways, and targets that are critical for novel therapies.23 As has occurred in oncology, it is anticipated that refinements that result in more-precise disease descriptions will be incorporated into current nomenclature for kidney function and disease, rather than replace it altogether. Evidence gathered before the conference Patient and caregiver focus groups. A total of 54 adults with CKD and 13 caregivers from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia participated in 10 focus groups, initiated and funded by KDIGO, to discuss terms and concepts used for kidney health. The qualitative synthesis of thematic analysis from the focus groups revealed numerous shortcomings and concerns related to current nomenclature for CKD (Table 2).9 Of direct relevance to the conference, focus group participants indicated a preference for use of the term “kidney” rather than “renal,” because it is more familiar, and discontinuation