Newswise — Washington, DC (January 10, 2023) — Today, Uptal D. Patel, MD, was announced as the Chair of the Kidney Health Initiative (KHI). In addition to launching the year with a new Chair, seven new members also join KHI’s Board of Directors.

KHI is a public-private partnership between the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and multi-sector member organizations to catalyze the development of safe and effective therapies for people with kidney diseases. The Board of Directors provides oversight on KHI’s strategy and represents the diversity of the 90 organizations that are members of the largest biomedical consortium in the kidney community and includes researchers, industry, government, people with kidney diseases, and health care professionals. Dr. Patel joined the KHI Board of Directors in 2018 with a career that spans academia and the private sector. Dr. Patel received his medical training at the University of California, San Francisco, followed by clinical fellowships in pediatric and adult nephrology, and then health services research training through the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining industry in 2016, Dr. Patel was a tenured Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Duke University, Director of the Clinical and Translational Core of the Duke O’Brien Center for Kidney Research, and Director of Nephrology Research at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. He has remained an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Duke and he currently serves as the Head of Clinical Renal and Executive Group Director of Early Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolism at AstraZeneca.

 The incoming members of the Board of Directors are:

 

Jorge Cerda, MD, MS, FASN

Saint Peter’s Healthcare Partners

 

Bruce M. Robinson, MD, MS, FASN

University of Michigan

 

Manisha Dadhania, MBA

Medtronic

 

Glenda V. Roberts

University of Washington

 

Vanessa A. Evans

Fresenius Medical Care

 

Brigitte Schiller, MD, FASN

 

 

Amanda Grandinetti, MPH

Patient Advocate

 

 

 

“Our new Board members come from many corners of the kidney community, and they will add tremendous expertise, perspective, and passion to KHI’s ongoing commitment to advance innovation in a pre-competitive environment,” said Dr. Patel. “I am grateful that they will be joining the Board and look forward to working with each of them as we continue KHI’s efforts to improve kidney health together.”

KHI has a broad portfolio of projects, meetings, and educational activities whose goal is to remove barriers in the development of innovative kidney drugs, devices, and biologics, serve the goals of the FDA, and support the federal policy in Advancing American Kidney Health.

  

About ASN

Since 1966, ASN has been leading the fight to prevent, treat, and cure kidney diseases throughout

the world by educating health professionals and scientists, advancing research and innovation,

communicating new knowledge and advocating for the highest quality care for patients. ASN has

more than 20,000 members representing 132 countries. For more information, visit www.asn-online.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

 

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