KIDNEY ACADEMY - Key Persons


Behram Khan

Job Titles:
  • Director of Medical Services, NKF Singapore
Dr. Khan serves as the Director of Medical Services, NKF Singapore. He is also a Senior Consultant at National University Hospital Singapore as well as Assistant Professor at National University Singapore. Dr. Khan is an interventional nephrologist and participates in both direct patient care and Kidney Health Advocacy programs in Singapore.

Dan Tobin

Job Titles:
  • Partner, Attorney McFarland PLLC
Mr. Tobin has enjoyed a robust law practice for almost twenty years, having practiced throughout the United States with both transactional and litigation experience. He has represented Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and entrepreneurs across a variety of industries, such as healthcare, technology, financial services, real estate, and construction, and outdoor advertising. He worked with clients during every phase of the business cycle, from contract negotiation to courtroom advocacy, Additionally, Mr. Tobin had a prominent role in running the business of his previous firm, where he served as President and on the Board of Directors. Currently, Mr. Tobin is a shareholder at McFarland law firm where he focuses his practice exclusively on eminent domain and condemnation law.

Dana Wisniewski

Job Titles:
  • in 2019 As the Marketing Director
Dana joined Kidney Academy in 2019 as the Marketing Director. Her background integrates hospital and corporate wellness experience with her marketing background. In 2014, she was awarded "Top 100 Health Promotion Professionals in the U.S." by WELCOA. Dana is a certified meditation teacher, personal trainer (American Council on Exercise), a certified Yoga Teacher (CorePower Yoga) and Wellness Coach (Well Coaches).

Debbie Brouwer-Maier

Ms. Brouwer-Maier has worked in various aspects of acute and chronic nephrology nursing for over thirty-five years. Her area of focus in hemodialysis vascular access includes membership on the KDOQI VA Guideline Work Groups (1997, 2000, 2006), various Fistula First Work Groups, and nephrology nurse roles related to vascular access care.

Ellen Dillavou

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor of Vascular Surgery at Duke University Medical Center
  • Associate Professor of Vascular Surgery Duke University Medical Center / Chief of Vascular Surgery Duke Regional Hospital
Ms. Dillavou is an associate professor of vascular surgery at Duke University Medical Center and the Chief of Vascular Surgery at Duke Regional Hospital. She earned a BA at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, an MD at the University of Arizona, completed general surgery training at Thomas Jefferson University of Philadelphia and a vascular surgery fellowship at The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her work centers on treatment of all facets of venous disease as well as complicated dialysis access.

Ingemar Davidson - Founder

Job Titles:
  • Founder
Dr. Davidson's focus is organ transplantation, Dialysis Access in End Stage Renal Disease patients. He has spent most of his professional life as Professor of Surgery, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, TX, where he also was the Medical Director of the Vascular Access Clinic at Parkland Memorial Hospital. He is a member of societies, such as the American College of Surgeons, American Medical Association, American Society of Transplant Surgeons and The Transplantation Society (International), Texas Transplantation Society (former president), and a past Board Member of Southwest Transplant Alliance (Organ Bank). Dr Davidson's research and experience is reflected in books, peer reviewed publications and proceedings. He is a current or past Reviewer for Critical Care Medicine, Journal for the American Society of Nephrology, Clinical Transplantation, Kidney International, and Juvenile Diabetes Foundation-International. He is member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Vascular Access. He has directed postgraduate programs dedicated to Transplantation and Access for Dialysis most notably CiDA (Controversies in Dialysis Access) now at its 17th year. He is a lecturer at congresses and symposiums in the USA and worldwide. The main focus is safety and team building strategies. Dr. Davidson initiated and maintains a development of several clinical activities, most notably an online training programs in dialysis access www.KidneyAcademy.com and is a co-investigator for NIH grant supported clinical dialysis access studies. A native of Sweden, Dr. Davidson specialties include organ procurement, organ transplantation, and dialysis access in end stage renal disease patients, with published educational books on these topics. Dr. Davidson initiated and maintains a development of several clinical activities, most notably an online training programs in dialysis access www.KidneyAcademy.com and is a co-investigator for NIH grant supported clinical dialysis access studies.

Jan Swinnen

Job Titles:
  • Vascular Surgeon
Dr. Swinnen serves as a Vascular Surgeon and a Dialysis Access Specialist at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, Australia. He is a certified Sonographer (DDU Vascular) and runs the Westmead Vascular Ultrasound Lab. He is Professor of Surgery at Sydney University and involved in clinical research.

Jennifer Hanko

Job Titles:
  • Consultant
  • Consultant Nephrologist
Dr. Hanko is a consultant nephrologist working in Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK). She has a subspecialty interest in vascular access which was initially developed during a fellowship with the University of British Columbia at Vancouver General Hospital. She is currently secretary of the Vascular Access Society of Northern Ireland.

John Richard Ross, SR.

Job Titles:
  • Medical Director of Dialysis Access Institute at Regional Medical Center
  • Medical Director of Dialysis Access Institute Regional Medical Center
Since 2011, Dr. Ross has served as the Medical Director of Dialysis Access Institute at Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Prior to this, he was the Chief of Surgery from 1979-2011 at Bamberg County Hospital in Bamberg, South Carolina. He is the Recipient of Life Achievement Award 2015, The American Society of Interventional and Diagnostic Nephrology Certification.

Maarten G.J. Snoeijs

Dr. Snoeijs' clinical and scientific interests are vascular access surgery and kidney transplantation. Maastricht UMC+ is the national referral center for complex vascular access surgery of which Dr. Snoeijs is the clinical lead. In addition, he trained as a clinical epidemiologist.

Maurizio Gallieni

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor of Nephrology Università Degli Studi Di Mil Ano
In the field of dialysis access, Dr. Gallieni, a nephrologist in Milan Italy, is the Coordinating Editor of the Journal of Vascular Access, a leading publication in the field. He has been involved with the Vascular Access Society since 2009 (President, 2013-2015). He is an advocate of peritoneal dialysis.

Mr James A Gilbert

Job Titles:
  • Consultant
Mr. Gilbert is a Consultant Transplant and Vascular Access Surgeon at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK and was appointed in 2010. He is a specialist in Kidney & Pancreas Transplantation and Vascular access surgery and has a particular interest and expertise in complex re-do and salvage access surgery and access in patients with central vein pathology. Mr. Gilbert is the clinical lead for access within the organization and is currently president of VASBI. Mr. Gilbert is an educationalist and has a Masters in Education. He is heavily involved with undergraduate and postgraduate training. He is currently a clinical lecturer at Christ Church College, Oxford and is one of the Trust's leads for education. Mr. Gilbert was responsible for the development of surgical educational supervisors across Health Education Thames Valley and is currently the Training Programme Director for Core Surgery training.

Nicholas Inston

Job Titles:
  • Consultant
  • Consultant Surgeon & Clinical Lead for Renal Surgery & Transplantation Queen Elizabeth Hospital / Birmingham, UK
Mr. Inston has been a consultant surgeon with an interest in transplantation and vascular access since 2008. Based in the University Hospital Birmingham he has a high volume practice in all aspects of surgery associated with renal failure. Following the award of a PhD in 2006 he has maintained a range of academic interests in both vascular access and transplantation and has published in both fields. A past president of VASBI, council member of VAS and has been faculty for many meetings. In addition he acts as Clinical Director of Transplant Links Community, a charity developing transplant programs throughout the world. "I believe there is a real need for a community approach to education and improving quality of care for patients with renal diseases and requiring dialysis. To optimize this there is a requirement for the multiple disciplines involved in dialysis delivery to have a vison of the wider landscape and understand the interplay of factors that improve patients outcomes and experiences. The community based approach that kidney academy presents is in my opinion the best way to do this."

Nieltje Gedney

Job Titles:
  • Vice President of Home Dialyzor 's United
Ms. Gedney is Vice President of Home Dialyzor's United (@HDUorg). Active on the Policy and Advocacy Committee, she has spoken at numerous events including the Alliance for Home Dialysis, American Kidney Fund, National Kidney Foundation, SONG, Annual Dialysis Conference, The Kidney Project and Kidney Health Initiative (KHI). She is a contributor at Kidney Views Blog, CJASN, and Seminars in Nephrology.

Paul Gibbs

Job Titles:
  • Consultant Surgeon Care Group Director for General Surgery
Dr. Gibbs was appointed as a vascular and renal transplant surgeon in the Wessex Kidney Centre, Queen Alexander Hospital, Portsmouth. He serves as the Clinical Director of the Renal Transplant Program (2004 to 2018), is Clinical Lead for Vascular Access and an active trainer for both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees. He is now Care Group Director for general surgery.

Prabir Roy-Chaudhury

Job Titles:
  • Professor of Medicine and Co - Director University of North Carolina ( UNC ) Kidney Center
cardiovascular complications in kidney disease patients). Dr. Roy-Chaudhury has been the

Robert E. Lee

Job Titles:
  • Medical Officer
  • Medical Officer Vascular and Endovascular Devices Team in the Office of Cardiovascular Devices, Center for Devices & Radiologic Health
Dr. Lee is a medical officer on the Vascular and Endovascular Devices Team in the Office of Cardiovascular Devices, Center for Devices & Radiologic Health, US Food and Drug Administration. The Vascular and Endovascular Devices Team has the responsibility over the total product lifestyle for many of the medical devices used to create dialysis access with fistulas or prosthetic grafts, or to treat the venous stenosis that is the bane of angioaccess providers and patients. Prior to joining the FDA in 2015, he practiced vascular and endovascular surgery in southeast Michigan for three decades, where providing access for hemodialysis was a significant component of his clinical activity.

Terry Litchfield

Job Titles:
  • President Access Solutions
A dedicated patient advocate; her husband Bill prior to his death a few years ago celebrated 46 years of renal replacement therapy. He was one of the 4 patients who testified for House Ways and Means with one of them dialyzing before members of congress to pass Medicare legislation for ESRD. Ms. Litchfield has served on the KHI Patient and Family Partnership Council and AAKP to name a few of her patient advocacy roles. As the care partner during home dialysis or supportive of in center care, she well knows the impact of kidney disease on a family. Her background in Hospital Administration at some of the best-known tertiary institutions in the US, give her a unique background in health services and program planning. She currently is President of Access Solutions, an advocacy group focused on dialysis vascular access.

Therese Wykoff

Job Titles:
  • Program Director
Ms. Wykoff leads the operations of Kidney Academy, Inc., overseeing the development of this project. Her educational background integrates organizational development and executive leadership.

Tony Glebe - VP

Job Titles:
  • Vice President
Mr. Glebe is a seasoned executive with a passion for helping organizations understand and solve complex problems in the healthcare industry. Mr. Glebe has served as a management consultant, strategic advisor, and business development executive to companies ranging in size from Fortune 50 to pre-revenue start-up, in all cases helping them identify transformational growth opportunities, and pursue strategies, partners and clients to bring them to life. As an advisor to Kidney Academy, Tony's experience in early stage companies, along with his knowledge of Payer, Pharma, Health Tech and Disease Management sectors, bring rich perspectives and relationships to help Kidney Academy more successfully accomplish it's mission to promote education and collaboration of multidisciplinary dialysis access care teams. Currently, Mr. Glebe serves as the Vice President at Aveus and is a key strategic consultant who partners with our clients to create vision, set strategy, and drive aligned action.

Ulf Hedin

Job Titles:
  • Professor Div. Vascular Surgery Dept Molecular Medicine & Surgery
Dr. Hedin did his PhD in vascular cell biology, trained in vascular surgery at Karolinska University Hospital and University of Washington. He is leading an independent research group with a focus on carotid disease and has also a strong clinical focus on vascular access and was the co-founder of the Swedish Vascular Access meeting, a bi-annual national transdisciplinary effort to improve national access care since 2008. Dr. Hedin was appointed professor in 2003, holds the academic chair of vascular surgery since 2005 and is senior consultant in vascular surgery at Karolinska.

Yael Vin

Job Titles:
  • Surgeon the Transplant Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston, MA, USA
  • Surgeon With Interventional Radiology
Dr. Vin is a surgeon with Interventional Radiology training. Her practice focuses on the creation and maintenance (surgical and percutaneous) of the dialysis access. She leads the Dialysis Access Center at her institution, a multidisciplinary initiative that includes Nephrology Interventional Radiology, and Surgery, that offers patients outpatient maintenance of their dialysis access, reducing the burden endured due to their chronic disease.

Ziv Haskal

Prof. Haskal has led, participated in, lectured upon and published hemodialysis-related research for 25 years. His pivotal studies defined the role of stent grafts in access preservation. Dr. Haskal has published over 400 peer-reviewed papers, editorial, abstracts, letters, and books and given over 500 invited lectures worldwide. He is the Emeritus Editor in Chief of the JVIR (2011-2020).