John Agar earned his medical degree from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to a busy nephrology practice, Dr Agar is also Conjoint Professor of Medicine, Deakin University School of Medicine and the University Hospital, Barwon Health, Geelong. He is also a member of several committees and boards encompassing hemodialysis and appropriate care for Australian and New Zealand patients.

Dr Agar is a prolific author or coauthor and has contributed to more than 200 journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters and has given more than 175 presentations internationally and domestically. In addition to patient care and home extended hour and frequency nocturnal hemodialysis, Dr Agar also has special interests and expertise in “flexible“ (lifestyle) dialysis, water recycling and conservation in dialysis systems, solar-assisted hemodialysis, “green/eco-dialysis“ (resource management and eco-design), and waste management systems for hemodialysis services.

Prof. Paul Bennett is the Foundation Chair and Professor in Translational Nursing at Western Health-Deakin University Partnership in Melbourne, Australia. He leads research teams focusing on strategies to improve the quality of life of people with ESKD using resistance and aerobic exercise, laughter therapy, home dialysis, e-learning, communication techniques and imagery, and workforce models. Professor Bennett is Editor-in-Chief of the Renal Society of Australasia Journal and Chair of the Kidney Health Australia Nursing Grants Program.

Christopher R. Blagg is Executive Director Emeritus of the Northwest Kidney Centers (Seattle) and Professor Emeritus of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr Blagg earned his medical degree from the University of Leeds School of Medicine, Leeds, England. As one of the nation’s leading authorities on home hemodialysis, Dr Blagg has had a storied career in the field of nephrology and has been involved with dialysis since 1958.

He is a past president of the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs, the Renal Physicians Association, the Washington State Society of Internal Medicine, and the Northwest Renal Society. He has served on various committees including advisory groups for the National Institutes of Health, the Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease Program, and the Food and Drug Administration. He has worked with Congress on legislation related to kidney disease.

Dr Blagg has published more than 290 papers and book chapters and has served on a number of editorial boards. He is currently editor-in-chief of the journal Hemodialysis International. He has been the recipient of awards and honors, including the American Association of Kidney Patients A. Peter Lundin Award for distinguished services to patients, the James W. Haviland Award for outstanding achievement in nephrology, the American Kidney Fund Torchbearer Award, and the American Association of Kidney Patients Medal of Excellence, among others.

Christopher Chan earned his medical degree from the University of Toronto, and is currently a full Professor of Medicine with the University and Director, Division of Nephrology for the University Health Network. Dr Chan is cochair, KDIGO (“Novel Techniques and Innovation in Blood Purification) and member of the National Task Force for Canadian Hemodialysis Guidelines. He also holds the R Fraser Elliott Chair in Home Dialysis at the University Health Network.

His clinical research activities relate to intensive hemodialysis, and he has led research teams that have examined the clinical aspects of optimal dialysis delivery, especially as they relate to the clinical application of nocturnal home hemodialysis for patients with refractory hypertension and ventricular dysfunction. His teams have also examined emerging e-Health technologies to assure quality and safety of remote complex care delivery.

Calli Cleland is an associate clinical charge nurse in the Home Haemodialysis & Satellite Dialysis Unit, Counties Manukau District Health Board, working through Middlemore Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. She earned her degree in nursing from Manukau Institute of Technology.

As a patient case manager and educator, Ms Cleland conducts home visits, engages in patient health and medication education programs, performs holistic assessments, analyzes patient blood results, conducts follow-up meetings, and works closely with the dialysis multi-disciplinary team to make recommendations and refer patients accordingly. Areas of expertise include both haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis (automated and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis).

Tom Cornelis is working since January 2016 as internist-nephrologist in the Jessa Hospital in Hasselt, Belgium. He trained in nephrology in Leuven, Belgium, and did a clinical fellowship in adult nephrology with focus on home dialysis and pregnancy-related kidney disease at the University of Toronto under supervision of professors Joanne Bargman and Christopher Chan.

From 2010 till 2015, he was working as staff internist-nephrologist at the Maastricht University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. In June 2015, he defended his PhD thesis entitled “Intensive and home hemodialysis: acute effects and long-term outcomes” at the University of Maastricht.

His areas of interest are in intensive hemodialysis, home hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and kidney disease during pregnancy.

Cheryl Cress is a Clinical Nurse Coordinator, Home Modalities, at Barnes-Jewish Dialysis Center, St. Louis, Missouri. She trains dialysis patients on home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Ms Cress also participates in CKD education classes and discusses home dialysis options for those patients with Stage 3 and Stage 4 CKD.

Deborah Eastwood earned her master’s degree in Patient Safety Leadership through the University of Illinois at Chicago and is currently General Manager, Medicine and Health of Older People, North Shore and Waitakere Hospitals, an institution that serves the largest catchment population in New Zealand.

Over the last 10 years she has been involved in the development of national renal/dialysis initiatives as the manager representative on the National Renal Advisory Board. Throughout her career, Ms Eastwood has worked closely with clinical staff to provide a comprehensive renal service to all patients.

Rose Faratro is a home hemodialysis nurse at University Health Network, Toronto General Hospital. She earned her degree in nursing at Charles Sturt University (Australia) and is CNeph(c) certified. Ms Faratro has worked as a patient educator for over 15 years and has worked within dialysis, in general, for more than 10 years.

She is the cochair for the Home Dialysis Interest Group, a consortium of health professionals in the greater Toronto area who share ideas and work together to create standards of care for patients undergoing dialysis at home.

Over the course of her career, Ms Faratro has written or coauthored publications for several journals. She has been invited to speak at The American Kidney Foundation regarding home dialysis and has participated as a consultant on various nursing advisory boards.

Sally Jane Fox is a Renal Nurse Manager (Home Therapies and Community) for the Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB), Middlemore Hospital, in Manukau City, New Zealand. She manages the center’s Home Haemodialysis Services and Outpatient Satellite Haemodialysis Unit and oversees the predialysis service as well as the peritoneal dialysis unit.

Throughout her career, Ms Fox has been involved in implementing renal recruitment strategies, setting up complete hemodialysis units, modifying models of care within units, researching and procuring dialysis providers (at a service level), and negotiating contracts. Her experience has provided her with keen insight and knowledge of the barriers patients face and the therapeutic strategies required to meet their needs within funding limitations reflective of the current economic climate in New Zealand.

Tony Goovaerts has 40 years’ experience in nephrology at Brussels Saint-Luc University Hospital and is currently the nurse manager of the hospital’s Home Hemodialysis Program, Peritoneal Dialysis Program, Self-care Satellite Unit, and the Pretreatment Counseling Program. For the past several years, he has provided invaluable assistance with technical matters related to dialysis and water quality for the Dr Yeneneh Betru Hemodialysis Project.

Mr Goovaerts was for many years a committee member of the European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association (EDTNA/ERCA) and was president of the 20th Annual EDTNA/ERCA Conference held in Brussels, Belgium.

He was a cofounder of the World Foundation for Renal Care (WFRC) and served as the organization’s vice president from 1996 to 2002. Mr Goovaerts has been an author or coauthor on several papers and has given presentations at numerous international conferences and has participated in many WFRC educational activities in developing countries.

Raymond Hakim began his career as an engineer, and received his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned his medical degree from McGill Medical School and has served on the faculties of Harvard University and Vanderbilt University Medical School and was the Director of the Clinical Division of Nephrology at Vanderbilt. He is past Chief Medical Officer and Senior Executive Vice President, Clinical and Scientific Affairs, for Fresenius Medical Services.

Currently Dr. hakim is an attending physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Division of Nephrology. Dr Hakim has presented extensively over the course of his career and has written over 160 articles regarding issues in dialysis. He has also contributed chapters to over 30 books.

James Heaf earned his medical degree from Cambridge University and has been a practicing nephrologist for more than 30 years. For the last 15 years of his career he has been responsible for the Limited Care Dialysis Department at Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, a unit with 130 peritoneal dialysis, limited-care hemodialysis, and home hemodialysis patients. He has been the director of the Danish Nephrology Registry since 2008. Dr Heaf has published over 110 papers on a wide range of nephrological subjects including mineral bone disease, peritoneal dialysis, uremia progression, and renal epidemiology.

Aaron Herold earned his master in social work from the University of Washington, Seattle, and is currently the Director of Transition Care Services and Operations Support for Northwest Kidney Centers in Seattle. For over 14 years, Mr Herold has worked in the chronic kidney disease community.

In his current capacity, he is collaborating with community partners and health systems to improve care coordination by leveraging technology, standardizing processes, building coalitions, and implementing evidence-based interventions. His renal experience spans a wide range of areas including, clinical social work, quality improvement, program development, and management. Mr Herold is a frequent speaker to professionals and patients.

Michelle Hladunewich is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the Director, Nephrology and Obstetrics at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center. Dr. Hladunewich is the Clinical Trials Director at the Toronto Glomerulonephritis Clinic and Registry, the Co-Chair of the recruitment committee for two large glomerulonephritis consortiums, the Neptune Study and Cure GN.

She is the medical lead for the Kidney Disease and Pregnancy Clinic (PreKid Clinic), and the Director of both the Divisions of Nephrology and Obstetric Medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Her research program includes studies in glomerular-based disease as well as pregnancy related kidney disease. She currently is the Ontario Renal Network Medical Lead for Glomerulonephritis and Specialty Clinics.

Dr. Hladunewich completed her Doctor of Medicine at the University of Alberta, her internal medicine training at the University of Toronto and then proceeded to complete her Critical Care and Nephrology Fellowships at Stanford University Medical Center.

In addition to her research training in glomerular physiology, she completed a Master’s of Science in Clinical Investigation at Stanford University. Dr. Hladunewich joined the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in 2003, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2013.

Eero Honkanen is Assistant Professor of Medicine and Chief Physician in Nephrology at Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. He has been a nephrologist for more than 30 years and has published nmore than 100 original articles, 50 reviews, and chapters in numerous textbooks. His main interests in nephrology include glomerular diseases, dialysis, and organization of home dialysis programs.

Daljit Hothi is a Consultant Pediatric Nephrologist, and Clinical Lead for home hemodialysis, Great Ormond Street and Portland Hospitals, London, UK

Kirsten Howard is a professor of health economics in the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, Australia. Her research focuses on methodological and applied health economics research in the areas of economic evaluation, economic modelling and assessment of patient and consumer preferences using discrete choice methods. She has extensive experience in the application of these methods to the clinical areas of chronic kidney disease, transplantation, falls prevention, and screening and diagnostic testing.

Prof Howard is a coauthor of multiple policy-relevant reports on the economic burden of kidney disease in Australia, and of reports for various Australian state and federal government agencies on the planning and delivery of dialysis services. She is a member of the Economics Subcommittee of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee and is involved in national and international committees and working groups in dialysis and transplantation.

Anu Jayanti is a Renal Research Fellow at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK.

Janine Jeffries commenced her nephrology nursing career in 1984 at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, where she initially worked throughout the institution’s various nephrology departments. Currently, Ms Jeffries is the nurse unit manager of the Home Training Haemodialysis Unit at the hospital. She earned her master of nursing studies degree from James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

Over her career, Ms Jeffries has developed and led many innovative programs that have supported positive change for patients and their caregivers. These programs involve dialysis techniques and prescriptions, water quality, technologies, and models of care.

She is an active promoter of home hemodialysis as a treatment option to staff, patients, and supporting community organizations and is recognized as a resource person who provides support and guidance to new and developing home training units throughout the state of Queensland. Ms Jeffries has presented at conferences, both locally and internationally; has been a coauthor of several publications; and is an active participant in the Australian Home Network group.

Robert Lockridge has been a clinical nephrologist in private practice with Lynchburg Nephrology and was medical director of the University of Virginia’s Home Dialysis program. In addition, Dr Lockridge was clinical associate professor of nephrology at UVA. In September 1997, he started the nocturnal home hemodialysis (HD) program in Lynchburg. This program was modeled after Dr Andreas Pierratos’ groundbreaking nocturnal HD program that he developed in Toronto, Canada. Dr Lockridge’s home HD program was the first and largest nocturnal home HD program in the United States.

Dr Lockridge has been one of the primary investigators for the FHN Nocturnal Trial sponsored by NIH and CMS. Today, Dr Lockridge is actively involved in educating nephrology physician groups, home training nurses, renal social workers, and renal dietitians about the practical aspects of home HD, providing guidance on how to determine who the best candidates are for home HD, and discussing the particulars of how home HD is prescribed. His presentations take place in community-based nephrology practices and academic centers throughout the United States and Canada.

Jennifer MacRae earned both her master’s degree in cardiovascular medicine and medical degree from the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She completed training in Internal Medicine, Nephrology, and completed additional training within the Clinical Investigator Program at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Dr MacRae is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary Division of Nephrology, Cummings School of Medicine, with a cross appointment with the Department of Cardiac Sciences. She is also supervisor of graduate and postdoctoral students.

Dr MacRae’s clinical and research interests include the physiology of conventional hemodialysis as well as intensive hemodialysis therapy (home hemodialysis modalities, in-center nocturnal hemodialysis), vascular access, and the impact of vascular access on cardiovascular physiology. She is actively involved in several clinical trials in hemodialysis and is chair of the Canadian Society of Nephrology Vascular Access Work Group and Medical Director for Hemodialysis, Home Hemodialysis, and Vascular Access for the Southern Alberta Renal Program.

Mark Marshall earned his medical degree from the University of Auckland, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, in New Zealand. As a practicing nephrologist in New Zealand, he has been a driving force in the formation of The Global Forum for Home Hemodialysis and creation of the Implementing Hemodialysis in the Home website and accompanying publications in Hemodialysis International.

He has acted as co-chair for the initiative from 2012 to 2014. In mid-2014, Dr Marshall reduced his respective clinical and academic positions at Middlemore Hospital and University of Auckland, and assumed the role of the Director of Medical Affairs for Baxter Healthcare – Asia Pacific (Renal). To minimize commercial influence, he has since stepped down as co-chair and member of the forum. He now acts as an independent consultant to the initiative.

Ikuto Masakane is deputy director of Yabuki Hospital in Yamagata, Japan. He earned his medical degree and PhD from Yamagata University, Japan. Dr Masakane has written more than 50 articles on dialysate and hemodiafiltration and has been an invited speaker at more than 60 domestic and international conferences and meetings.

Philip McFarlane is a practicing nephrologist in the Division of Nephrology at St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Ontario, Canada, and an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. At St Michael’s he is the medical director of the hospital’s Home Dialysis Program, the medical codirector of the Multidisciplinary Diabetes Complications Clinic, and the chief nephrologist in the Live Kidney Donor Kidney Transplant Program. Recently, Dr McFarlane was one of a group of healthcare professionals who drafted the Canadian Diabetes Association Clinical Practice Guidelines.

He earned his medical degree from the University of Western Ontario and his PhD from the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto. His areas of research interest include health economics and outcomes research, home dialysis, diabetic nephropathy and hypertension, clinical practice guidelines, live kidney donation, quality-of-life issues, and clinical and research database development.

David Mendelssohn earned his medical degree from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. He completed postgraduate training in internal medicine and nephrology in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was Chief/Physician Director, Department of Nephrology, at the Humber River Regional Hospital in Toronto from 2001 until June 2014, and is a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto.

From January 2011 until November 2013, Dr Mendelssohn was Provincial Lead, Research and Innovation, for the Ontario Renal Network. Previously, he has served as chair of the Ontario Medical Association Section on Nephrology, chair of the Specialist Coalition of Ontario, chair of the Toronto Region Dialysis Committee, and chair of the Professional and Public Policy Committee of the Canadian Society of Nephrology. He was cochair of the 2004-2005 Toronto Dialysis Access Task Force.

Dr Mendelssohn is currently one of two Canadian principal investigators for the multinational Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Pattern Study (DOPPS). His other research interests include referral patterns and predialysis care, bioethics (resource allocation, end of life), dialysis modality distribution, continuous quality improvement, and renal economics. He has published more than 110 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.

Sandip Mitra earned his medical degree from Kolkata University in India. He has subsequently trained in renal medicine in the UK and was awarded an MD for his research in dialysis science at the University College of London. He is currently a consultant nephrologist at Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust and is clinical and governance lead for hemodialysis in the renal network. . Dr Mitra is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester (Cardiovascular Sciences) and is clinical lead for the largest European home-based, minimal-care dialysis program.

He has led the transformational change in patient-focused service delivery by developing an innovative program of home therapies resulting in better outcomes, greater patient independence, empowerment, and accessibility. This system (known as the “Manchester Model”) has revived the interest in the therapy and its implementation across the NHS. Dr Mitra has been chief and/or principal investigator in over 25 multicenter clinical trials with an active research and innovation profile in areas of blood purification techniques and vascular access biology.

As chair of renal theme for NIHR Health Technology Cooperative (D4D), he leads a technology innovation programme to improve patient autonomy and dignity. He is an author or co-author on several papers and has made presentation at conferences and other scientific meetings throughout the UK and abroad.

Rachael Morton is an early career researcher with expertise in health economics and cancer clinical trials. After receiving formal qualifications in clinical epidemiology, Dr Morton completed her PhD in health economics and is currently a senior research fellow in the Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, and academic visitor at the Health Economics Research Centre, University of Oxford, where her role involves the application of health economic methods to kidney disease and cancer.

Gihad Nesrallah earned his medical degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1999. He completed nephrology training at the University of Western Ontario after obtaining a fellowship in internal medicine. Currently, he is the Medical Director of Hemodialysis and the Chief of the Nephrology Program at Humber River Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. He also holds appointments as Adjunct Scientist at the Lawson Health Research Institute, Associate Scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, and is a core faculty member of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences Kidney Dialysis Transplant Program.

As Provincial Lead, Data and Measurement Program at the Ontario Renal Network, Dr Nesrallah has led the creation of Ontario’s first renal measurement framework, supporting strategic priorities spanning chronic kidney disease, vascular access, home dialysis, and patient-based funding. Dr Nesrallah’s academic interests include patient-reported outcome measurement, knowledge synthesis, guideline development, and observational comparative effectiveness research. He has led international collaborations, including those for the International Quotidian Dialysis Registry and the clinical practice guideline panels with the Canadian Society of Nephrology.

Robert Pauly earned his medical degree from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and completed nephrology training at McGill University in Montreal. He subsequently completed a master’s degree in epidemiology from McGill and a research fellowship in home nocturnal hemodialysis at the University of Toronto.

Dr Pauly is currently Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Alberta and Medical Director of the Northern Alberta Home Hemodialysis Program. His research focuses on delivery of intensive home hemodialysis (nocturnal and short daily hemodialysis) and how these dialysis paradigms are integrated into the spectrum of end-stage renal disease treatment options. Dr Pauly’s research is supported by operating grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Kidney Foundation of Canada, among others.

Anthony Perkins is a Clinical Nurse Specialist working in the Home Dialysis Unit at Barwon Health in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. He has been nursing for 15 years after graduating from Ballarat University and has been working in renal therapy for the last 10. He found his niche in home haemodialysis and has been working with patients in this modality over the past 6 years. Mr Perkins completed a Graduate Certificate in Nephrology Nursing in 2007, and he is currently a Master of Nursing candidate with anticipated completion in 2015 from the University of Newcastle.

During his time in nephrology nursing, Mr Perkins has developed interests in water quality and water pathways, haemodialysis environmental resource management, and patient/staff education and training. He has been an author or coauthor of several publications related to environmental impacts of haemodialysis and has presented at several scientific meetings.

Virpi Rauta is a nephrologist in charge of Home Hemodialysis and Dialysis Training Department Helsinki University Central Hospital.

Jean-Philippe Rioux earned his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, in 2003. After completing his postgraduate training in internal medicine and nephrology at the University of Montreal, he pursued further training in home dialysis at the Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network.

He joined the Division of Nephrology at Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, University of Montreal, in 2010 where he is responsible of the nocturnal home hemodialysis program. He is presently an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Montreal where he is involved in pre- and postgraduate education.

As a member of the Canadian Intensive Hemodialysis group, Dr Rioux has made significant contributions to the elaboration of the Canadian Society of Nephrology guidelines for the management of patients with end-stage renal disease treated with intensive hemodialysis. He has published his research in renowned peer-reviewed journals in nephrology and has also presented his work at international and national conferences.

Dori Schatell has contributed to the renal field since 1989, and since 2000 has been Executive Director of the non-profit Medical Education Institute, which conducts research and develops award-winning, evidence-based educational materials to help people with chronic disease live as fully as possible, focusing on chronic kidney disease.

She has written and edited hundreds of educational pieces for patients and professionals, including the original DOQI anemia guidelines, the Core Curriculum for the Dialysis Technician, Kidney School (interactive, tailored, web-based patient education), and the Life Options and Home Dialysis Central websites.

She has been an active participant in Fistula First since its start. Ms. Schatell teaches healthcare professionals simple strategies to collaborate with patients to improve health outcomes by engaging them to accept equal responsibility for goal setting, treatment options, and decision making. She is co-author, with Dr. John Agar, of the book, Help, I Need Dialysis!

Bessie Young is an associate professor of nephrology at the University of Washington and staff nephrologist at the Veterans’ Administration Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, Washington. She completed her internal medicine and nephrology training at the University of Washington where she also received her master’s in public health in epidemiology while completing a Veterans Affairs Health Services Fellowship in general internal medicine.

Dr Young was medical director of the Northwest Kidney Centers Home Hemodialysis program in Seattle for 9 years and is currently involved in increasing home hemodialysis within the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. She conducts research on racial and ethnic differences in CKD, end-stage renal disease, transplantation, and telenephrology. Dr Young has published widely on diabetic nephropathy, depression, and home hemodialysis modalities and on health disparities in the epidemiology, disease progression, and disease management of CKD in systems where equal access to care is available.