Staffing Advisors is proud to have partnered with the American Kidney Fund (AKF) in the selection of its Chief Medical Officer, Pranav Garimella, MBBS, MPH. AKF is a national charitable nonprofit organization that directly supports patients and caregivers wherever they are in the fight against kidney disease. The organization operates with approximately 125 staff members. Read AKF’s full announcement here.

“Dr. Garimella’s deep expertise in nephrology, particularly in rare and complex kidney diseases, will enhance our capacity to serve both the patient and clinical communities more effectively. We look forward to his leadership, which will be instrumental to advancing our mission to fight kidney disease and help people live healthier lives.”

— LaVarne Burton, President and CEO of the American Kidney Fund

About the Search for AKF’s First Chief Medical Officer

After a deep discovery process to identify the organization’s most critical business issues and strategic priorities, Staffing Advisors sought an experienced physician leader to provide medical insights to AKF staff, assist the VP with research endeavors, including developing a research collaborative to enable AKF to proactively seek out mission-aligned projects, and serve as the face of the AKF at scientific and medical events. The new leader would enable AKF to quickly respond to breakthroughs in research and policy developments and navigate complex ethical issues around research and funding.

The search was led by Staffing Advisors Vice President of Executive Search Lilly Khan, with strategy consulting from Founder & President Bob Corlett and support from the entire Staffing Advisors team.

Working closely with AKF’s leadership, Staffing Advisors surfaced several key competency areas for the role. A summary of each is listed below:

  • Leadership and Representation. Represent AKF as a thought leader and medical expert at professional conferences, FDA interactions, and in collaboration with CMOs of other peer organizations, industry, and providers. Provide clinical insights about patient/provider interactions to AKF staff and external partners. Translate complex research into plain language for a variety of audiences. Participate in the development of AKF policy regarding CMS quality measures for patient care. Serve as a resource for AKF management regarding staff and public health issues, such as those related to COVID.
  • Research and Education. Collaborate with the Vice President of Patient Support and Education and the Senior Director of Clinical Education to create a research framework for Clinical Scientist in Nephrology (CSN) program alumni and institutions. Serve as a research author on targeted research projects in collaboration with other researchers/groups. Participate in AKF’s Medical Advisory Committee meetings to guide research and clinical education initiatives. Create and present content for CME courses to educate healthcare professionals.
  • Media and Public Engagement. Develop and contribute content to AKF platforms, such as “Ask the Nephrologist” website feature, podcast interviews on emerging clinical topics, and livestream social media discussions on topics in nephrology. Serve as a media spokesperson for medically focused interviews and maintain a strong social media presence to interact with the renal community and build AKF’s brand presence.

The Staffing Advisors team was honored to support AKF in this important leadership transition. Since 2008, we have partnered with AKF on several key roles, including a Chief Medical Officer, a Senior Director of Brand Marketing, and a Senior Director of Human Resources