NKF Appoints Walmart Chief Medical Officer Dr. Wigneswaran to National Board
(June 1, 2023, New York, NY) — The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is thrilled to announce the appointment of Dr. John Wigneswaran (Dr. Wig), Walmart’s Chief Medical Officer, to NKF’s National Board of Directors. In his role at Walmart, Dr. Wig leads safety, quality, and training, the Walmart Healthcare Research Institute, clinical program development, innovation, and medical affairs. Dr. Wig was nominated and approved at NKF’s most recent Board meeting held in March.
“We are excited that Dr. Wig has joined the NKF Board of Directors and look forward to the wealth of knowledge and expertise he will bring in the areas of safety, quality, training programs, clinical program development, and medical affairs,” said Tracy McKibben, Chair of NKF’s National Board and a living kidney donor to her mother. “Dr. Wig is an asset to our Board as a healthcare business leader in many domains and as a nephrologist. We look forward to having him on board as we continue to build greater awareness of kidney disease.”
Dr. Wig joined Walmart from Cigna where he served as Chief Medical Officer for Express Scripts. Prior to that, he held various roles in the pharmaceutical, medical device, pharmacy benefit management (PBM), and healthcare services industries, including DaVita, Fresenius Medical Care, Gambro, Nephroceuticals, and Johnson & Johnson. He began his career as a practicing nephrologist and has also served as a renal fellowship preceptor in the Division of Nephrology at Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University.
“I’m honored to join the NKF Board of Directors and very excited to help those dealing with kidney disease in any way I can,” said Dr. Wigneswaran, Chief Medical Officer at Walmart. “I was drawn to nephrology because of the unique needs of the patient population, many in underserved communities, and the opportunity to make an impact. These patients in particular need an advocate, and I wanted to be that individual in their lives.”
Dr. Wig completed his undergraduate studies at Cornell University, attended medical school at the Tufts University School of Medicine, and completed his nephrology fellowship at New York-Presbyterian/Weil Cornell Medical Center and internal medicine residency at Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University. He received his MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management and currently resides in Boston, MA.
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.
About National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is the largest, most comprehensive, and longstanding patient-centric organization dedicated to the awareness, prevention, and treatment of kidney disease in the U.S. For more information about NKF, visit www.kidney.org.
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