Your next step, together.
CKD Next Switzerland is a non-profit association based in Basel — for people living with chronic kidney disease, and for everyone at their side.
Why we exist
Chronic kidney disease doesn't stop. It's there every day — sometimes loud, mostly quiet. From the outside, there's little to see.
There's the disease and then there's the everyday that runs alongside it: appointments, medication, lab results, paperwork. Each task on its own is manageable — together, day after day, they can wear anyone out.
It takes many hands to carry this: families, day in and day out. Clinicians thinking far beyond the appointment. Researchers working on better ways. There's no shortage of commitment. What's often missing is the connection in between, especially at the transitions.
That's exactly where we come in: we want to better connect what's already there and try new ideas together, so daily life is less about managing an illness and more about living. All with a little more ease.
We can't take the illness away from anyone. But we can make the road less lonely.
The transitions
Living with CKD means living in transitions. Each one brings its own questions, its own decisions, its own paperwork: Diagnosis. Dialysis. Preparing for a transplant — and life afterwards. Immunosuppression. Other illnesses that come with it — mental health included. Setbacks nobody planned for. And along the way, again and again, decisions that weigh heavily and take time.
We begin with the transition we know from the inside: from paediatric to adult nephrology. It isn't only the care team that changes — it's the entire logic of care, right in the middle of growing up. On both sides of this transition, people are working hard. We want to complement and connect their work. In practice, that means: listening to how young patients and their families experience this transition and where the hurdles lie. Looking at what could work better, including how digital tools can offer practical, safe support. What we learn, we want to share, to make things better for everyone.
The association is deliberately broader in scope — for everyone living with CKD and for everyone who supports them, family and professionals alike. We want to grow step by step.
What we do
Guidance & knowledge
— clear, plain-language information for families in times of transition.
Community
— bringing together people who know what this is like. Regular meet-ups in Basel, starting in 2027.
Projects
— carefully chosen, one at a time, together with clinicians and centres. Our first focus: the transition into adult medicine.
Network
— we partner with organisations doing work different from ours: driving innovation, supporting families hands-on. Their work strengthens ours — and the other way round.
Who we are
CKD Next Switzerland was founded in June 2026 by Danielle and Marie-Louise (Marilu) Heer — mother and daughter.
Marilu was diagnosed at 13 and received a transplant that same year. Today she's 19 and runs her life — her studies, her friendships, her plans — with an illness that travels with her every day and is almost invisible from the outside. She manages her own care: the appointments, the medication, the daily decisions. The way adults do. That journey is exactly what this association wants to make easier for others.
Behind her stands a family that carries this with her — each in their own way.
Danielle is a finance professional. Five years in the middle of it — deciphering test results, coordinating appointments, staying on it, speaking up — taught her how much navigation this illness demands, and how much it means not to carry it alone. Today she's at Marilu's side for the big decisions.
In the association, the two are partners. They've remained each other's advocates, and together they want to be that for everyone who lives quietly with CKD.
Become a member
Membership is open to anyone who supports our purpose. Professionals and organisations are warmly welcome too. The fee: CHF 20 a year. It's deliberately small. Every membership gives kidney families in Switzerland a louder voice.
We're currently building our founding circle: people from clinical care, caregiving, research and the patient community who shape the association with us from the first step.
or by bank transfer:CH26 0077 0255 9551 2200 1
Verein CKD Next Switzerland, Basel