Ali Abu-Alfa, MD, FASN

Ali Abu-Alfa, MD is a Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at the American University of Beirut. Before he joined AUB in the fall of 2010, he spent 20 years of his career at the Yale School of Medicine in the Section of Nephrology. Dr Abu-Alfa is co-president of the North American Chapter of the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis and is a member of the Dialysis Advisory Group of the American Society of Nephrology. His interest and work on NSF have focused on developing policies and strategies for reducing the risk of NSF, and screening for kidney disease before administration of gadolinium-based contrast agents. He has published and co-authored 11 papers on NSF, has lectured internationally on NSF and has been active in organizing and chairing an annual scientific symposium dedicated to NSF and GBCA since 2007.

Irwin Braverman, MD

Irwin Braverman, MD is a Professor of Dermatology at the Yale University School of Medicine, where he has been an esteemed educator for 50 years. He received the “Lifetime Career Educator” Award from the Dermatology Foundation in 2008. He is a world recognized pioneer in medical educational techniques that employ fine art (and its careful visual interpretation) to enhance visual diagnostic skills. In recent years he has theorized a genetic defect was responsible for the unusual physical appearance of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, as depicted in ancient artwork. He is a member of the Global Fibrosis Foundation Medical Advisory Council.

Nick Clements

Nicholas Clements is an international investment banker and lawyer who concentrates his activities in the United States, the Middle East, and China. He acts as an advisor to government entities and commercial enterprises and has been a frequent guest commentator on CNN International. Nick is Chairman of Octagon Group, Ltd. He previously served as Vice Chairman of Shanghai International Securities and as Chairman/CEO of Clements Taee Ltd., AG Capital Ltd. He has been a visiting lecturer at Yale University and Beijing University, and a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Comparative Law at the University of Florence.

Shawn Cowper, MD (Chairman, Medical Advisory Council and Cofounder)

Shawn Cowper, MD, is an Associate Professor of Dermatology and Pathology at Yale University School of Medicine and was the first author to report on nephrogenic systemic fibrosis in the world's medical literature. He created and runs the International NSF Registry. He has authored 25 articles and 7 textbook chapters on NSF, and has spoken on the subject all over the world. He serves as the chairman of the Global Fibrosis Foundation Medical Advisory Council.

Daniel Durda, PhD

Dan Durda is a Principal Scientist in the Department of Space Studies of the Southwest Research Institute's Boulder Colorado office. He has more than twenty years of experience researching the collisional and dynamical evolution of main-belt and near-Earth asteroids, Vulcanoids, Kuiper belt comets, and interplanetary dust. He is an active pilot, with time logged in over a dozen types of aircraft including the F/A-18 Hornet and the F-104 Starfighter, and was a finalist in the 2004 NASA astronaut selection. He serves as a flight astronomer for the SWUIS-A airborne astronomical imaging system flown aboard NASA and military high-performance, high-altitude aircraft and has spent over 84 minutes of time in zero-gravity conducting experiments on NASA's KC-135 Reduced Gravity Research Aircraft. Durda is one of three SwRI payload specialists who will fly on multiple suborbital spaceflights on Virgin Galactic's Enterprise and XCOR Aerospace's Lynx. Dan is also a Fellow and a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Association of Astronomical Artists. His space art has appeared in numerous magazines, web news stories, and books and has been internationally exhibited. He has co-authored a book and published dozens of articles popularizing planetary science and human exploration of space.

Thomas Heany (Cofounder)

Thomas Heany is president of Blue Moon Media. From 1992 to 2007 he was Director of Programming for the National Music Foundation. He has consulted with the National Guitar Workshop, Apex Learning, and the Boy Scouts of America, and has served on the board of the Hudson Valley Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. His wife has been diagnosed with nephrogenic systemic fibrosis.

Celeste Castillo Lee

Celeste Castillo Lee is Senior Program Manager for the Office of the Provost, University of Michigan. In addition she has served as project manager and management consultant at Duke, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Harvard Medical School. She has played multiple leadership roles with the National Kidney Foundation, Big Brother/Big Sister, www.thewaitinglist.org, the New England Organ Bank, The Vasculitis Foundation of North Carolina, the Governor's Task Force on Chronic Kidney Disease of North Carolina, and many other not-for-profit organizations. She has been diagnosed with nephrogenic systemic fibrosis.

Gloria Pennington (President and Cofounder)

Gloria Pennington was International Executive Director of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation from 1984 to 1992. She was president and CEO of the National Music Foundation from 1992 to 2008. She has also served on the board of the New York Chapter of the American Red Cross. Gloria was diagnosed with nephrogenic systemic fibrosis in 2008.

Jacques Sacy

Jacques Sacy is an Insurance Executive based in Beirut, Lebanon. He has a multi-cultural background and has worked and lived in many countries of the Middle East and in the U.K. He has visited over 65 countries and, despite having been diagnosed with NSF in 2003, he remains very active in his professional career. He was the first patient to join the moderator of the first NSF website support group for patients and their families.