The National Kidney Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) is comprised of leaders within all of NKF’s major medical initiatives, physicians serving on the national board of directors, as well as other individuals appointed at the discretion of the NKF President. Chaired by the President, this leadership group is responsible for directing, and advocating for, the organization’s major medical programs.
Kirk Campbell, MD - Chair, NKF President
Dr. Kirk Campbell is the C. Mahlon Kline Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He joined Penn from the Icahn School of Medicine in New York where he served as the Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Professor of Pharmacological Sciences. Dr. Campbell held a number of leadership roles at Mount Sinai including serving as the founding Director of the Mount Sinai Center for Kidney Disease Innovation, Nephrology Fellowship Director and Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine.
Dr. Campbell graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and completed residency training in Internal Medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital followed by clinical and postdoctoral research fellowships in Nephrology at Mount Sinai. In addition to treating patients with kidney disease, Dr. Campbell leads an NIH-funded research program focused on developing new therapeutic interventions for proteinuric diseases. He actively participates in clinical trials testing novel agents for primary glomerular disease and is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
He is a Past-President of the New York Society of Nephrology and a member of the Board of Directors of the NephCure Foundation. He is the current President of the National Kidney Foundation and Chairs its Scientific Advisory Board.
Linda Awdishu, PharmD, MAS
Linda Awdishu earned her Bachelors of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Toronto in 1999, Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Colorado in 2008 and Masters of Clinical Research from the University of California in 2007. She is an Associate Clinical Professor of Pharmacy and Medicine at UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She maintains a clinical practice in the chronic kidney disease program. Her research program is focused on drug induced kidney injury.
Michelle Estrella, MD, MHS
Dr. Estrella is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and serves as the Renal Section Chief at the San Francisco VA and the Executive Director of the Kidney Health Research Collaborative. She is the President-Elect of the National Kidney Foundation.
Morgan Grams, MD, MHS, PhD
Dr. Grams is a nephrologist and Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Dr. Grams holds academic degrees from Yale, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins University. She completed an internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian-Columbia University and a nephrology fellowship at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Grams is Director of Nephrology Initiatives for the Chronic Kidney Disease Prognosis Consortium, an 11-million participant, global consortium, and she also maintains active research programs in the metabolomics and genomics of kidney disease as well as drug safety in chronic kidney disease.
Syed Ali Husain, MD
Ali Husain is a transplant nephrologist at NYU Langone Health, where he is a clinical investigator in the Center for Surgical & Transplant Applied Research. His research focuses on expanding access to transplant through policy reform and improved donor selection. He serves on the NKF Transplant Advisory Committee, the ASN Transplant Policy Committee, and as an Associate Editor for Clinical Transplantation.
Lesley Inker, MD
Dr. Inker is an Associate Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM), an attending physician in the William B. Schwartz, MD Division of Nephrology at Tufts Medical Center (TMC), and scientist at the US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University. Dr. Inker's primary research interests are in kidney function measurement and estimation, alternative endpoints for clinical trials of kidney disease progression, and epidemiology and outcomes related to CKD. Dr. Inker is an investigator on several trials of kidney disease progression. Dr Inker has worked with NKF leadership on improving CKD awareness, including revising the ICD codes related to kidney disease in the United States. Dr. Inker was co-chair of the Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative (KDOQI) committee on the CKD Guidelines, which wrote a commentary on the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) CKD 2012 guidelines. Dr. Inker is the Director of the Kidney and Blood Pressure Center, the Kidney Function Evaluation Center, and for Quality Improvement for the Division of Nephrology at Tufts Medical Center.
Holly Kramer, MD, MPH
Dr. Kramer received her M.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine. After completing a nephrology fellowship at Harvard University Medical School in 2002, Dr. Kramer was jointly appointed to the Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, and Department of Public Health Sciences at the Loyola University Medical Center. She became co-director (Dr. Durazo) of the Clinical Research Methods and Epidemiology Program in 2005, developing several courses for the program, and later was the Program Director for the MPH Program in 2009-2013. Dr. Kramer is currently an Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences and Medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension. Her research interests include the intersection between nutrition, kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. She is the immediate past President of NKF, as well as Vice-Chair of NKF KDOQI Controversies and Commentaries. In 2016, Dr. Kramer was awarded the Garabed Eknoyan award from the National Kidney Foundation.
Eugene Lin, MD
Dr. Lin is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He is a board-certified nephrologist and health services researcher with a focus on economic policies pertaining to kidney diseases. His main research focus is in cost-effectiveness and assessing the impact of financial incentives on patient outcomes. Currently, he is studying the economic and social determinants of home dialysis drop-out and the appropriateness of 30-day rehospitalizations in patients receiving dialysis. He also has interests in the impact of Medicare policies on the delivery of healthcare by providers and has studied how to optimize chronic disease management, including an investigation on the cost-effectiveness of multi-disciplinary care programs in chronic kidney disease. Recently, he helped the NKF refine its CKD Intercept payment model. He also served as moderator for two of the clinical subcommittees convened by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to develop episodes of care for the Quality Payment Program (“Acute Kidney Injury Requiring New Inpatient Dialysis” and “Hemodialysis Access Creation”). Eugene received a BS in biology (minor in mathematics) from Stanford University, an MD from Baylor College of Medicine, and completed his Internal Medicine residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and his fellowship training at Stanford University.
Dinushika Mohottige, MD, MPH
Dinushika Mohottige is Assistant Professor in Institute of Health Equity Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology. She engages in patient and community-centered, inequity-focused research around the impact of socio-structural factors/racialized medicine on kidney health and kidney transplantation.
Opeyemi Olabisi, MD, PhD
Dr. Opeyemi Olabisi is a Physician-Scientist and Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke School of Medicine. He practices adult nephrology and conducts NIH-funded research that leverages experimental models and patient-derived cells to study the mechanisms underlying APOL1-mediated kidney disease. His research has focused on APOL1 for more than 10 years. He leads an NIMHD-funded, community-engaging clinical trial of Baricitinib as treatment for APOL1-mediated kidney disease. Dr. Olabisi received his MD-PhD degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, internal medicine residency training at MGH and nephrology fellowship at the Harvard combined MGH-BWH fellowship program. He completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at BIDMC, Harvard Medical School.
Paul Palevsky, MD, FNKF
Dr. Palevsky is Professor of Medicine and Clinical and Translational Science in the Renal-Electrolyte Division at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and is Chief of the Renal Section at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. He completed his undergraduate and medical education at Northwestern University followed by internship and residency training in internal medicine and fellowship training in nephrology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Palevsky joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in 1989, where he has remained since. Dr. Palevsky's research has primarily focused on acute kidney injury and critical care nephrology. He was the study chair of the VA/NIH Acute Renal Failure Trial Network (ATN) study evaluating intensity of renal replacement therapy in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury and currently serves as co-chair of the PRESERVE trial, evaluating the comparative effectiveness of saline and bicarbonate and the efficacy of N-acetylcysteine in preventing kidney damage following angiography. Among other clinical trials, Dr. Palevsky was a member of the planning and executive committee of the VA NEPHRON-D study, which compared monotherapy with an angiotensin receptor blocker to combination therapy with both an angiotensin blocker and an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor in slowing progression of diabetic kidney disease and is a member of the steering committees for the EUPHRATES trial, evaluating extracorporeal endotoxin adsorption in severe sepsis. Dr Palevsky has published more than 200 original articles, reviews and book chapters, serves as a deputy editor of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and is section editor for Renal Failure for UpToDate. He is a former member of the board of directors and past chair of the Quality, Safety and Accountability committee of the Renal Physicians Association, and is the vice-chair of the board of directors of Quality Insights Renal Network 4 (ESRD Network 4).
Sylvia E. Rosas, MD, MSCE
Sylvia E. Rosas, MD, MSCE is a nephrologist and epidemiologist at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, Ma. She is the Director of the Latino Kidney Clinic and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She also is a nephrologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Julia Scialla, MD, MHS, FASN
Dr. Scialla is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Nephrology and Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia (UVA). She trained in Internal Medicine, Nephrology, and Clinical Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At UVA, she serves as the Director of Outcomes Research for a joint program in Medicine and Public Health Sciences and as Director of the Nephrology Clinical Research Center within the Division of Nephrology. Nationally she serves as a Deputy Editor at the American Journal of Kidney Diseases. Her research focuses on chronic kidney disease (CKD) epidemiology with an emphasis on cardiovascular and metabolic complications and risk factors for CKD progression.
Alison Steiber, PhD, RDN
Dr. Steiber is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and the Chief Science Officer at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. As Chief Science Officer, Dr. Steiber leads the Research, International, and Scientific Affairs team in both research efforts, including conducting nutrition related research, systematic reviews, position statements, and Evidence Based Nutrition Practice Guidelines and the Dietitian Outcomes Registry. Additionally, Dr. Steiber oversees the Academy’s international efforts, standardized language development and resources and supports the research fellowship program. Prior to the Academy, Dr. Steiber was Director of the Coordinated Dietetic Internship. She is an author on dozens of scientific research papers, represents the Academy at key research, scientific and/or policy conferences, is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Kidney Foundation, on the Scientific Advisory Panel for the American Council on Exercise and the Executive Committee for the International Society for Renal Nutrition and Metabolism. Dr. Steiber completed her Dietetic Internship and received her Master of Science in Dietetics at the University of Kansas Medical Center and her Doctorate in Human Nutrition from Michigan State University. In 2021, Dr. Steiber received the Distinguished Health Professions Alumna award from the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.
Charuhas Thakar, MD
Dr. Thakar received his medical degree from the Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, University of Pune, India in 1995. He completed an Internal Medicine residency at Bridgeport Hospital, Yale New Haven Health in Bridgeport, CT and a Nephrology fellowship at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, OH. Dr. Thakar currently serves as the Director, Division of Nephrology, Kidney C.A.R.E (Clinical Advancement, Research & Education) Program at the University of Cincinnati in OH and Chief of Renal Section at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. Dr. Thakar is an experienced educator, having joined the University of Cincinnati as an Assistant Professor in 2004 and was promoted to Professor of Medicine with Tenure in 2014. He is a nationally recognized for his research related to acute kidney injury and progression of chronic kidney disease. His work has been published in top-tiered peer-reviewed journals, and he has received funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, NIH and other national foundations. Additionally, he completed an executive education program at Harvard Business School in Managing Healthcare Delivery. He has vast leadership experience in complex healthcare environments, including federal, non-profit, and private sectors.
Sumeska Thavarajah, MD
Dr. Thavarajah is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the division of Nephrology. Much of her work has focused on the development of patient education programs including videos, live classes and patient conferences with a focus on understanding kidney disease, dialysis modalities and transplant options. She has a strong interest in clinical operations. She currently serves as the Medical Director for the JHBMC Nephrology clinic, acute dialysis services at JHBMC, and outpatient dialysis units. Dr. Thavarajah joined the BMC Nephrology editorial board in October 2019 as a Blog Editor for the journal. She has been committed to education and dedicated to bringing community awareness on kidney disease through her work with the National Kidney Foundation serving Maryland and Delaware.
John Kevin Tucker, MD
Dr. J. Kevin Tucker is Vice-President for Education at Mass General Brigham and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also co-director of Harvard Medical School’s Master’s in Clinical Service Operations program. His clinical appointment is at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he focuses on the management of chronic kidney disease patients, hemodialysis patients, and peritoneal dialysis patients. A native of Monroeville, Alabama, Kevin graduated from Birmingham-Southern College and Cornell University Medical College (now Weill Cornell). He then completed internal medicine training at Massachusetts General Hospital and a nephrology fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He remained at UAB on faculty from 1996-2002. During his tenure at UAB, he was recognized as an outstanding teacher with the Department of Medicine Division Teacher Award as well as the Department of Medicine Top Ten Teacher Award. He was the nephrology fellowship program director at UAB from 1999-2002. He returned to Boston in 2002, joining the faculty of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He was named Program Director for the Brigham and Women’s Hospital-Massachusetts General Hospital Nephrology Program in 2007 and served in that capacity for ten years. He also served as Chief of Renal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospital from 2013-2020 and as Harvard Medical School’s Faculty Director for Accreditation and MOC in the Department of Postgraduate Medical Education from 2016-2020. Kevin’s interest in peritoneal dialysis led him to found the peritoneal dialysis program at DCI Faulkner, which has grown to about forty patients. The clinic has been recognized for clinical excellence by winning DCI’s Darwin Peterson award on three occasions since its inception. Kevin remains a leading advocate for home dialysis therapies. He volunteers actively with the National Kidney Foundation and has served as chair of the New England chapter’s Medical Advisory Board.
National Staff:
Kerry Willis, PhD
Joseph Vassalotti, MD
Jessica Joseph, MBA