Key opinion leaders (KOLs)
Chair, PD University for Surgeons, International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis, North America
Visiting clinical faculty, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Harbor-University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center, Torrance, CA
Dr. Crabtree is a general surgeon. He completed his medical training and residency in general surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Campus in Little Rock, Arkansas. He currently holds an academic appointment as visiting clinical faculty at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. His clinical research interest focuses on issues related to peritoneal dialysis access. He pioneered modifications and enhancements to the laparoscopic placement of PD catheters resulting in improved catheter outcomes for PD patients. Dr. Crabtree has authored numerous articles covering dialysis catheters, implantation techniques, and resolution of dialysis access complications. Currently, Dr. Crabtree is the chair for PD University for Surgeons in North America, part of a global education effort sponsored by the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis. He is actively involved in implementing ISPD-sponsored surgeon education programs in Europe and Asia.
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
Division of Nephrology, Keck School of Medicine of USC
Medical Director of the DaVita/USC Kidney Center
Dr. Ghaffari completed his undergraduate training at UCSD. He completed a dual master’s degree at Boston University, obtaining a master’s in medical sciences and an MBA with a focus on healthcare management. He then pursued medical school at Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine prior to moving back to Southern California to complete his residency in internal medicine at USC. He stayed on as faculty in the Department of Medicine, prior to pursuing fellowship in nephrology at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He again moved back to Southern California to join the Division of Nephrology at USC in 2007. In September 2009, he was named the medical director of the DaVita/USC Kidney Center, a large urban dialysis unit with a predominantly indigent patient population. His interests include promoting peritoneal dialysis by creating models of care that minimize the barriers to the initiation of PD. He is the pioneer of urgent-start PD, a model of care that has allowed late-referred patients to be started on PD urgently. He was also involved in the design and implementation of a multicenter pilot studying the impacts of applying urgent-start protocols to patient outcomes and PD program growth resulting in implementation of the model in more than 180 clinics within the DaVita village. His other interests include studying and minimizing the inefficiencies of the economics of ESRD healthcare delivery.
Chief, Section of Interventional Radiology
Director, Interventional Radiology at Lindon B Johnson Hospital
Professor of Radiology and Medicine
Dr. Abdel Aal earned his medical doctorate and received his PhD in diagnostic radiology from Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. He has authored several book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles, including several publications on the detailed placement of PD catheters. He serves as a reviewer and a member of the editorial board for numerous journals. Dr. Abdel Aal has participated in multiple clinical studies both as principal investigator and coinvestigator, and has research interests in dialysis interventions, oncology interventions, and management of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations. He has placed approximately 150 PD catheters percutaneously using ultrasound and fluoroscopic guidance.
Staff Physician, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX
Associate Professor, Division of Nephrology, Dept. of Medicine
Medical Director, Home Dialysis Program
University of Texas Health at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
Dr. Bansal obtained her medical degree from SMS Medical College, Jaipur, India, and went on to complete her internal medicine residency and nephrology fellowship from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. She joined the Division of Nephrology at UT Health San Antonio in 2010, and re-established the peritoneal dialysis program, growing the program from two to 30 patients in two years involving a multidisciplinary approach and team. As the medical director of UHS outpatient renal clinics, she significantly improved patient care by reducing wait times, developing and implementing multiple policies, and streamlining the renal replacement therapy education and dialysis access placement. Dr. Bansal’s research interest is in the importance of salt reduction and volume control in the management of kidney patients, and the role of inflammation in chronic kidney disease. She has received both extramural and institutional grants to support her projects. She also participates in industry-sponsored clinical trials. Dr. Bansal has been actively involved in both course- and non-course based teaching of medical and nursing students, residents and fellows. Within the first year of joining, she was presented an excellence in teaching award by the outgoing nephrology fellows. For patient care, Dr. Bansal strongly believes that empowerment of patients by health education is the most important step in achieving the best outcomes.
Staff Nephrologist, St. Michael’s Hospital
Medical Director, Kidney Care Center Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Dr. Perl graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, in 2003. He completed his post-graduate training at the University of Toronto in both internal medicine and nephrology in 2008. In 2010, he completed his Master of Science degree in clinical epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2016, he was awarded the John Maher Young Investigator Award by the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis. He also serves as the North American board chair of the International Society of Nephrology. His primary research interests and clinical practice focus on improving the survival and quality of life for patients on peritoneal dialysis. Dr. Perl is a primary investigator in The Peritoneal Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (PDOPPS).
Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine
Medical Director of Dialysis Services Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri
Dr. Rothstein has more than 30 years of experience as a PD program director and is board-certified in nephrology and internal medicine. He is a member of several professional medical organizations. He was recognized in the Best Doctors in America 2013 database, and was similarly recognized as one of best doctors in St. Louis by St. Louis Magazine. Dr. Rothstein has been a principal or co-principal investigator on a number of clinical trials related to renal pathophysiology and dialysis, and has published extensively on these topics in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Rothstein received his MD from Zulia University in Venezuela and completed internships, a residency, and a postdoctoral fellowship at several institutions in both Venezuela and the United States.
Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine
Director of Peritoneal Dialysis, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, California
Dr. Saxena completed her Bachelor of Science degree at Duke University; received her MD from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, North Carolina; and completed both her residency and a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Saxena is heavily involved in teaching as a member of the faculty of the Stanford Nephrology Fellowship Program, and she serves as site director for nephrology postdoctoral education. She is involved in teaching at many levels and has educated medical students, interns and residents as well as practicing nephrologists. She has been a faculty member of the Home Dialysis University (HDU), formerly known as Peritoneal Dialysis University (PDU), since 2007, and has delivered numerous invited lectures and presentations at national meetings, such as ASN Kidney Week, the Annual Dialysis Conference, and ISPD conferences. She has published manuscripts on peritoneal dialysis and renal pathophysiology in various peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Saxena is board-certified in nephrology and is the medical director of a peritoneal dialysis program of more than 60 active patients. Her clinical practice involves the care of more than 80 chronic dialysis patients and several hundred chronic kidney disease patients, in addition to attending on the inpatient nephrology consultation service for several months each year. She currently serves as the treasurer of the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) and president of the North American Chapter of ISPD and is on the executive council for the greater ISPD (international).
Assistant Professor (Renal Section), Boston University School of Medicine
Medical Director, Boston DaVita Peritoneal Dialysis Unit, Boston, Massachusetts
Dr. Stern received her MD from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey, and completed her residency and a nephrology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City, New York. Dr. Stern has served in multiple capacities in professional societies. She has been a Training Program Directors (TPD) executive committee member, a Workforce Taskforce committee member, and the director of the Kidney-Treks Longitudinal Mentorship Program of the American Society of Nephrology, and is a member of the New England Medical Advisory Committee of the National Kidney Foundation. Dr. Stern has delivered numerous invited lectures and presentations at national meetings and clinical conferences, and is an author of various journal articles and textbook chapters, as well as a book on internal medicine. She is board-certified in both internal medicine and nephrology.
Medical Director, Bariatric Surgery Program, Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Wernsing received his MD from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of the University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey. He has given invited talks on bariatric surgery and peritoneal dialysis, and is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons, and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. Dr. Wernsing has performed more than one thousand PD catheter procedures and has expertise in complex laparoscopic surgery of the abdomen, allowing him to troubleshoot a variety of unanticipated situations that may be encountered when placing a PD catheter.
Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology
David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
Anjay Rastogi, MD, PhD, is a professor and full-time faculty member at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California. Dr. Rastogi is board-certified in nephrology and has a doctoral degree (PhD) in pharmacology. Dr. Rastogi did his internal medicine residency and nephrology fellowship at UCLA; he completed his graduate training under the mentorship of Nobel laureate professor Louis Ignarro, also at UCLA. He serves as the clinical chief of the Division of Nephrology, Director of Nephrology Clinical Research program, Medical Director of the Living Kidney Donor Program, Fabry Program and PKD Program. His research interests include cardiovascular disease, PKD, Fabry disease, anemia, diabetes and hypertension, especially in the CKD population. He has several ongoing clinical trials and studies including the NIH-sponsored SPRINT study. He was awarded the UCLA Exceptional MD of the Year Award in 2014 for his demonstration of the UCLA values of compassion, respect, excellence, discovery, integrity, and teamwork.