Meet the Team
Investigative Team
Tiffany C. Veinot, MLS, PhD
Tiffany C. Veinot, MLS, PhD is Principal Investigator of the Dialysafe Study. Additionally, she is Associate Dean for Faculty at the School of Information, and Professor at the Schools of Information and Public Health at the University of Michigan. She is also a founding faculty member and former Director of the Master of Health Informatics Program at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on “community health informatics,” or the use of information systems and services to improve the health of marginalized populations and reduce health disparities. She has over 70 published, peer-reviewed papers, and her published research has garnered eight “best paper” awards in the fields of health informatics, human-computer interaction, and information science. She has held or co-held over $9 million in research funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), National Science Foundation (CDC), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Veterans Health Administration (VA), Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). She is also on the Editorial Board of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA), Journal of the Association of Information Science and Technology (JASIST), International Journal of Medical Informatics and has served as an Associate Chair for Health at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. She co-chaired a national Computing Community Consortium workshop on “Sociotechnical Interventions for Health Disparity reduction,” and was guest editor on a special focus issue of JAMIA entitled,“Health Informatics and Health Equity: Improving Our Reach and Impact.”
Rajiv Saran, MBBS, MS, MD
Dr. Rajiv Saran, MBBS, DTCD, MD, MRCP (UK), MS, is Professor of Internal Medicine and the Florence E. Bingham Research Professor in Nephrology, Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, at the University of Michigan (UM), in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is also Professor of Epidemiology at UM’s School of Public Health and a member of the Executive Faculty Group at the University of Michigan’s Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center (KECC). Dr. Saran is an internationally recognized expert in kidney disease epidemiology. Until very recently (2014 – 2019) he served as Director of the United States Renal Data System (USRDS; www.usrds.org), a ‘gold standard’ for kidney disease data systems, worldwide. Since 2006 he has been Co-Principal Investigator for the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National CKD Surveillance System for the US, a one of a kind project that complements the USRDS, while focusing on upstream surveillance of CKD and its risk factors (www.cdc.org/ckd/surveillance). Both projects led by him were extensively referenced in the 2019 Advancing American Kidney Health Federal policy document. He is currently Co-Principal Investigator for a cluster randomized, pragmatic trial (DIALYSAFE) in hemodialysis aimed at improving cardiovascular safety, funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), with Dr. Tiffany Veinot (PI). From 2012-2016 Dr. Saran led the development of the first National Kidney Disease Information System (VA-REINS), for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), funded by the VA’s Center for Innovation, and one that led to the VA recognizing the importance of kidney disease as a health priority for US veterans. Dr. Saran has recently (2018-2020) been funded on a spin off project from VA REINS for investigation of ‘hot-spot’ of kidney disease among US Veterans involving both risk-prediction and geospatial analyses – a modern approach to health system big data being used for prevention and population health improvement, using kidney disease as an example. He has published over 200 original papers, editorials and book chapters in prestigious journals such as the JASN, JAMA Cardiology, Kidney International, Lancet, Circulation, Annals of Surgery, amongst others. His work is recognized internationally as evidenced by his participation in numerous study sections, invited presentations around the country and abroad, and expert consultations.
Jennifer Bragg-Gresham, PhD MS
Co-Investigator
As a health services researcher, Dr. Bragg-Gresham has developed expertise in the use of large longitudinal datasets and the statistical methods needed to analyze them. She have over 20 years of experience as a biostatistician/epidemiologist working in outcomes research, with over 10 years focusing on improving the lives of dialysis patients as part of the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study.
Brenda Gillespie, PhD
Co-Investigator, Project Biostatistician
Brenda is an Associate Research Professor for the University of Michigan's Department of Biostatistics, and the Associate Director for Consulting for Statistics Computing and Analytics Research (CSCAR) at University of Michigan. Brenda has extensive experience in clinical trials and statistical methods, and has worked for many years on research projects studying kidney disease.
Michael Heung, MD MS
Co-Investigator
Dr. Heung has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan since 2005, and brings both clinical and research experience in caring for patients with end-stage kidney disease
Sarah Krein, PhD RN
Co-Investigator
Sarah is a health services researcher with the VA Ann Arbor Center for Clinical Management Research and the University of Michigan Department of Internal Medicine. She has a clinical background in nursing and over 20 years of research experience with a specific focus on patient safety.
Kai Zheng, PhD FACMI
Co-Investigator
Dr. Zheng is Associate Professor of Informatics and Associate Adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. He is also Director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics at the UC Irvine Institute for Clinical and Translational Science. Prior to joining UC Irvine, he was Associate Professor of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health and Associate Professor of Information in the School of Information at the University of Michigan.
Dinesh Chatoth, MD
Co-Investigator, Fresenius Medical Care North America
Dr. Chatoth is the Associate Chief Medical officer of Fresenius Medical Care North America. He is a nephrologist and has recently retired from clinical practice. Previously CEO of Georgia Nephrology in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Chatoth's work is focused on patient centered clinical research and growing home dialysis as a modality of choice for renal replacement therapy.
Steering Committee and Staff
Ladan Soroudi, MS
Steering Committee, Patient Partner
Ladan holds a MS in Psychology. She serves on the National Kidney Foundation Advocacy Committee as a peer mentor and kidney transplant representative.
Kelli Collins Damron, MSW
Steering Committee, National Kidney Foundation
Kelli is a licensed clinical social worker with 14 years experience working in nephrology. In her tenure at NKF, she has lead the development of programs, services, and educational materials for kidney patients, family members, and care partners. On behalf of NKF, she works to ensure that the voice of kidney patients is represented in research and policies including collaborating with researchers and their teams on a number of PCORI-funded projects.
Marissa Argentina, MSW
Peer Mentor Coordinator, National Kidney Foundation
Marissa is a licensed social worker who has been in the field of nephrology since 2010. She is currently the NKF Peers Program director at the National Kidney Foundation as of 2017. She has previously worked as a dialysis center social worker in the Bronx, NY.
Lisa Velez-Aponte
Patient Engagement Manager, National Kidney Foundation
Lisa has worked in patient engagement at NKF for 8 years. She manages over 350 patient, living donors and transplant recipients on the Kidney Advocacy Committee at NKF.
Vu Le, MS
Programmer Analyst, University of California Irvine
Vu has over 20 years experience as a software engineer and full-stack developer supporting clinical research. A self-proclaimed geek and sci-fi lover, he is especially interested in new and upcoming technologies. His early work focused on robotics and has now developed into telehealth, specifically the design of hardware and software for rehabilitating, educating, and improving quality of life for patients.
Yun Han, MS PhD
Data Scientist, UMKECC
Yun Han, MS, PhD, is assistant research scientist in the Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine and at Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center, University of Michigan. She obtained her MS in health policy and management at University of California, Los Angeles and received her PhD degree in social and administrative sciences in pharmacy at University of Michigan. Yun has over 8 years of experience in using health administrative data to assess healthcare utilization and treatment outcomes, including analytical work for the CDC CKD Surveillance Project and in the United States Renal Data System.
Jocelyn Webber
Research Administrator
Jocelyn has over 11 years of experience in Research Administration and over 5 years experience in Research Development.
Ed Hennessey, M.Ed
Health Technology Support
Ed has over 25 years of experience in technical support in both educational and government facilities. He has a Masters in Educational Technology from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Kara Eggebrecht, BS, CEP
Study Coordinator
Kara is a Clinical Exercise Physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine. She has 11 years experience working in cardiac rehabilitation, cardiovascular testing and preventive health programs. Her previous research experience includes assessing the safety of exercise among hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients.
Megan Wickens, PhD
Project Manager
Megan has seven years of preclinical research experience and recently moved into research administration.
Advisory Commitee
Ann Andrews, MPH
National Kidney Foundation of Michigan Representative, Advisory Committee
Ms. Andrews is a Senior Program Manager at the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan with over 23 years of experience implementing health education programs. For the past 15 years, she has worked to advance strategies for identifying and managing chronic kidney disease and encouraging organ donation.
Keven Bernard
Patient Advocate, Advisory Commitee
Keven has been a dialysis patient for over 4 1/2 years, where he learned how to coexist with dialysis treatments to keep a quality of life going. He is a graduate of Vermont Academy Class of 76- Morehouse College- Pre-Med Major.
Andrew Conkling
Patient Advocate, Dialysis Patient Citizens Board, Advisory Committee
Brandy Vinson
5-Diamond Representative, Advisory Committee
Erich Ditschman
Peer Mentor Representative, Advisory Committee
Erich is on his 20th year of dialysis, of which 17 years have been on home modalities. For the past 14 years he has been using home hemodialysis, with the last 12 years dedicated to nocturnal home hemo. He has been a patient advocate since 2001.
Asenath Gregory
Patient Advocate, Advisory Commitee
Asenath spent 35 years working with the Medicare program and is now retired. During her career, she spent about eight years as a supervisor of the end-stage renal disease processing unit in for Medicare Part B.
Mike Guffey
Patient Advocate, Dialysis Patient Citizens Board, Advisory Committee
Mike has been an End Stage Renal Disease patient since 2008. He was on in-center hemodialysis for 4 ½ years before receiving a transplant. He has served on the Dialysis Patient Citizens board since 2011.
Patricia McCarley, MSN NP
Fresenius Nurse Practitioner Representative, Advisory Committee
Tricia has over forty years of experience in Nephrology Nursing including with clinical experience in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis in both adults and pediatrics.
Precious McCowan, MS
Peer Mentor Representative, Advisory Committee
Precious McCowan is a two-time kidney transplant recipient. She was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2010, receiving her first kidney and pancreas transplant the same year. The kidney failed after seven months. Precious received in-center hemodialysis for eight years, during which time she started her patient advocacy journey. In 2019 she received her second kidney transplant. Precious strives diligently to advocate for improved patient and family engagement, health literacy, and health equity.
Felicia Speed, LMSW
Fresenius Social Worker Representative, Advisory Committee
Felicia has over 20 years of social work experience. She is currently the Senior Director of Social Work Services at Fresenius Medical Care.
Stephanie Clark, MD, MPH, MSHP
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Advisory Committee
Dana Miskulin, MD, MS
DCI, Advisory Committee
Yolanda Carter, BSN, RN
Fresenius Nurse Representative, Advisory Committee
Tamzin Marchese, RD, CDN
Fresenius Dietician Representative, Advisory Committee
Edna Castro
Fresenius Patient Technician Representative, Advisory Committee
Jessica Joseph, MBA
National Kidney Foundation Representative, Advisory Committee
Lisa S-J
Patient Representative, Advisory Committee
Quenton T-G
Patient Representative, Advisory Committee
Amanda P
Patient Representative, Advisory Committee
Previous Team Members
Leah Hein, MA
Former Project Senior Manager (Project Alumni)
Leah has over 8 years of experience in project management for health technology research, including previous work with Baylor College of Medicine and the Movember Foundation.
Hannah Chumley, MS RDN CSR
Former Study Coordinator (Project Alumni)
Hannah has over 3 years of experience as a Renal Dietitian, including status as a Board Certified Specialist in Renal Nutrition.
Zhaoxian Hu, MHI
Former Full-Stack Developer (Project Alumni)
Zhaoxian Hu is a full-stack developer with 5 years of experience working in the healthcare research field. Hu specializes in building MVC based web applications, with skills in both front-end/mobile (Angular, Ionic, Android) and back-end/system-admin (RESTful web services, SQL/NoSQL, Node.js, Docker, Linux).
April Wyncott, MPH MBA
Project Senior Manager, UMKECC
April is a non-profit administrator serving the health, education, well-being and socioeconomic needs in underserved urban populations.
Devon Osborne, MA
Steering Committee, Patient Partner
Devon has ten years experience as an in-center dialysis patient and four with a transplant. He was an Information/Database Technology Consultant for over 30 years before becoming a patient advocate.
Rebecca Wingard, RN MSN CNN
Steering Committee, Fresenius Medical Care North America
Rebecca has more than 25 years of nephrology experience in patient care, quality management, and research activities.
Andrea Dekam, LMSW
Council of Nephrology Social Workers Representative, Advisory Committee
Andrea has been a Nephrology Social Worker at Michigan Medicine for over 17 years. She is a long-time, active member of the NKF’s Council of Nephrology Social Workers (CNSW), serving most recently as the CNSW Chair.
Shanen Wright
5-Diamond Representative, Advisory Committee
Shanen is Quality Insights’ Director of Innovation, which involves leading the organization’s innovation engine, overseeing internal capacity development and executing various external pilot projects and initiatives. He has more than 20 years of health care social marketing experience and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Marshall University.