NKF Awards Boston Nutrition Specialist with Kopple Award
January 26, 2022, New York, NY — The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is pleased to announce that Boston Renal Nutrition Specialist, Haewook Han, PhD, RD, LDN, FNKF, is the 2022 recipient of the Dr. Joel Kopple award, which is given annually at NKF’s Spring Clinical Meetings that will be held in Boston from April 6-10. This award is given to those who make a significant contribution in the field of renal nutrition.
Dr. Han works at the Atrius Health Department of Nephrology as well as at Tufts Medical Center in Boston and is a pioneering researcher in renal nutrition.
“I am honored to contribute my work to the field of renal nutrition and research,” Han said. “I feel that it is my lifetime achievement. I credit this award to the many people I have worked with in the past and present, including Tufts Medical Center’s Dr. Johanna Dwyer, Ms. Kelly Kane, Dr. Ronald Perrone, Division Nephrology at Tufts, Atrius Health’s Dr. Bradley Denker, Nephrology Team, and of course my family, including my late parents who supported me throughout my life and my sister, Jiwon and her husband, Michael.”
Han will receive the award among the nephrologist and professionals gathered in Boston for the annual conference in April.
“Nutrition is an important factor in dealing with kidney disease and a critical weapon in managing symptoms, complications and delaying the need for kidney replacement therapies,” said NKF President Paul Palevsky, MD. “This makes Haewook’s work critical to kidney disease prevention, treatment of patients on dialysis, and kidney care in general.”
Han has various experiences in clinical practice among stage 1-5 CKD, post-transplant, and dialysis patients and has participated in research including the Hemodialysis Study. She also has expertise in kidney stones and has published the textbook “Nutritional and Medical Management of Kidney Stones” as a co-editor in 2019.
She is the program director of the Master of Science/Dietetic Internship program at the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University and is involved in several renal research projects with students. She works with the renal teams at both Atrius and Tufts Medical Center to provide appropriate diet education for all renal patients and teach young dietitians and graduate students.
Recently, she collaborated with Dr. Perrone at Tufts Medical Center to provide appropriate diet recommendations for polycystic kidney disease. She has also been involved in CKD quality assurance projects at Atrius Health. Han has been a member of the Journal of Renal Nutrition and Nutrition Today editorial boards, served as a Renalink editor at the NKF CRN Executive Committee, and has presented multiple lectures in the nutritional management of kidney disease and kidney stones around the world.
NKF Spring Clinical Meetings
For the past 30 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 are 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. This year’s event will be held in Boston, April 6-10.
About Kidney Disease
In the United States, 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. 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/African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian American, or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease. Black/African American people are more than 3 times as likely as White people to have kidney failure. Hispanics/Latinos are 1.3 times more likely than non-Hispanics to have kidney failure.
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 (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.