National Kidney Foundation Honors Dr. Sankar Niranjan with Distinguished Service Award
(Feb. 2, 2024, New York, NY) — The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) proudly announces that Dr. Sankar Niranjan, MD, FASN, will receive the prestigious Medical Advisory Board (MAB) Distinguished Service Award. This award was established to recognize exceptional individuals for their outstanding educational activities and community service in advancing the mission of NKF at a local level and is a testament to Dr. Niranjan’s unwavering dedication to optimal kidney health locally. The award will be presented at the NKF 2024 Spring Clinical Meetings (SCM24) in Long Beach, CA, in May.
"I am honored and humbled to receive NKF’s Medical Advisory Board Distinguished Service Award,” said Dr. Niranjan. “As a staunch advocate for early screening and prevention of kidney disease, I have always strived to support NKF in this herculean task of raising awareness regarding the risk factors for this disease. As the incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer continue to increase globally, I’m deeply committed and passionate about continuing this work in preventive nephrology for the rest of my life locally and globally as well as contributing to the mission of the NKF."
Dr. Niranjan is a nephrologist in practice from Bloomfield, Connecticut, and has served as the Chair of the MAB serving Connecticut since 2009. A graduate of Kilpauk Medical College, India, he completed his medical residencies in the UK and at the University of Connecticut, where he served as Chief Medical Resident and a Nephrology Fellow. Since 2004, he has served as the Attending Physician and Nephrologist at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and was an owner/partner at Greater Hartford Nephrology LLC. He was also a Medical Director at DaVita Dialysis in Bloomfield, Connecticut until December 2023.
In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Niranjan has played a pivotal role in mentoring numerous young physicians and nephrology trainees as a community-based faculty member at the UCONN School of Medicine in Farmington, Connecticut. His commitment to education is further reflected in the multiple posters and publications he has authored, contributing to peer-reviewed journals and international conferences.
Dr. Niranjan's passion for the prevention and early detection of kidney disease is also evident in his active involvement in NKF’s Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP) in Connecticut. He has facilitated screenings at inner-city community events and minority places of worship, demonstrating his commitment to reaching diverse populations. Over the last five years, Dr. Niranjan has conducted kidney disease screening camps across Southern India (most recently in January 2024), screening over 500 patients in rural areas using the KEEP template. His primary focus is on global and preventive nephrology.
“Dr. Niranjan is a shining example of excellence in action with his deep commitment to helping everyone, particularly diverse communities, to obtain optimal kidney health through prevention and early detection,” said NKF President Sylvia Rosas, MD, MSCE. “It’s an honor to present this well-deserved award to him and acknowledge his exemplary service in advancing kidney health awareness.”
Each year NKF considers the work of hundreds of specialists in the field of Nephrology and selects among them those who most exemplify the relentless efforts of NKF to enhance the lives of patients through action, education, and accelerating change. The prestigious awards are presented to the recipients during the annual gathering of clinicians and kidney health professionals at the NKF 2024 Spring Clinical Meetings, which will be held from May 14-18 in Long Beach, CA.
NKF Spring Clinical Meetings
For the past 32 years, nephrology healthcare professionals from across the country have come to NKF’s Spring Clinical Meetings to learn about the newest developments related to all aspects of nephrology practice; network with colleagues; and present their research findings. The NKF Spring Clinical Meetings is designed for meaningful change in the multidisciplinary healthcare teams’ skills, performance, and patient health outcomes. It is the only conference of its kind that focuses on translating science into practice for the entire healthcare team.
About Kidney Disease
In the United States, more than 37 million adults are estimated to have kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney disease (CKD)—and approximately 90 percent don’t know they have it. About 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. are at risk for kidney disease. Risk factors for kidney disease include: diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and family history. People of Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian American, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease. Black or African American people are about four times as likely as White people to have kidney failure. Hispanics experience kidney failure at about double the rate of White people.
NKF Professional Membership
Healthcare professionals can join NKF to receive access to tools and resources for both patients and professionals, discounts on professional education, and access to a network of thousands of individuals who treat patients with kidney disease.
About the National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney Foundation is revolutionizing the fight to save lives by eliminating preventable kidney disease, accelerating innovation for the dignity of the patient experience, and dismantling structural inequities in kidney care, dialysis, and transplantation.
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