Vascular access remains the Achilles' heel of hemodialysis. Despite substantial progress in prevalent AVF rates in the “fistula first” era in the USA, incident AVF rates remain poor, maturation rates are low, and catheter use remains high. The key to improved vascular access outcomes is an improved understanding of the biology, epidemiology, and procedure-related science of vascular access. We invite authors to submit original research and review articles that seek to define the key clinical and translational aspects of hemodialysis access research. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Development and testing of novel vascular access procedural techniques
• Development of novel devices to facilitate vascular access intervention and/or use
• Elucidating the role of balloon-assisted maturation in AVF development
• Identification of new translational strategies to understanding vascular access biology
• Identification of biomarkers/correlates of vascular access outcomes
• Elucidating new cellular and animal models to test and understand endothelial injury
• Reviewing the current state-of-the-art of vascular access vis-à-vis epidemiology and economic outcomes

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijn/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: