MISAA Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Kam Kalantar is a triple board certified physician specialist in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Nephrology with an MD degree from Germany (Bochum, Bonn, Nuremberg), a Master's degree in public health (MPH), and a PhD in nutritional epidemiology from UC Berkeley, and provides kidney healthcare and consultation in Southern California. He has created the "Harold Simmons Center for Kidney Disease Research and Epidemiology" and "Center of Excellence in Renal Nutrition" with the ultimate goal of longevity and wellness for kidney patients, and to conduct patient-centered studies and train pre- and post-doc students and fellows and early-career investigators. Dr. Kalantar has authored or coauthored more than 1,000 peer-reviewed articles, five textbooks, and many chapters. He is an editor-in-chief, associate editor and editorial board member of many peer-reviewed journals in nephrology and nutrition, and a member of several professional societies.

Dr. Rhee is a board-certified UCI Health nephrologist who specializes in treating kidney diseases and kidney dialysis. Her clinical interests include diabetes-related kidney disease, endocrine disorders in kidney disease and thyroid dysfunction in chronic kidney disease. She earned her MD degree at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. She also completed a Master's of Science in epidemiology at Harvard University's School of Public Health. Her research interests include the study of endocrine derangements in chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease patients. She also studies racial disparities and nutrition in in chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease, as well as dialysis outcomes. She has received grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Kidney Foundation and the American Thyroid Association, and has published more than 120 manuscripts.

Dr. Gorantla is a professor at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM). Prior to joining WFIRM he played a key role in the nation’s first approved hand transplant program at the University of Louisville before joining the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where his efforts were fundamental to the institutional approval, federal funding, and establishment of the nation’s second upper extremity transplant program, with eight upper extremity transplants. He has been a primary investigator across diverse programs ranging from upper extremity transplantation and organ preservation to eye transplantation and novel graft-targeted drug delivery in vascularized composite allotransplantation.