Excellence as well as the Director of Acute Dialysis Services. He joined the American Kidney Fund as Chief Medical Officer in January 2025 as AKF’s first CMO. He received his training in India, Chicago, and completed his fellowship at Tufts University, training in clinical nephrology with a focus on polycystic kidney disease with Dr. Ron Perrone. Dr. Garimella is an established researcher whose research focus includes novel biomarkers of kidney function, cardiovascular disease, bone health and mortality. His research has been funded by the NIH, the Veterans Medical Research Foundation and UC San Diego. Dr. Garimella is also a trained epidemiologist who has authored several book chapters and over 110 articles in peer-reviewed journals including Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and Kidney International. He serves on the Editorial Board for Kidney Medicine, and as an as ad-hoc reviewer for multiple journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, the Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, American Journal of Kidney Diseases, and Clinical Nephrology. He has also received several awards for his research, clinical work, professionalism and teaching, and is a fellow of the American Society of Nephrology (FASN). He is also involved in initiatives to develop programs specifically targeted at minority populations in an effort to improve health literacy and potentially clinical outcomes.

Sachin Hajarnis, PhD is a Senior Medical Science Liaison at Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. Dr Hajarnis has a Bachelors and Masters in Life Sciences from University of Mumbai, India. He obtained a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Colorado State University. Dr Hajarnis joined the University of Texas Southwestern Medical school in Dallas, as a post-doctoral fellow in the department of Nephrology where he performed basic research on various aspects of Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). He continued his studies on the role of micro-RNAs in PKD as a Research Scientist for several years before joining his current position at Otsuka.

Marla Dallal, PharmD, RPH is a Medical Science Liaison at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development and Commercialization covering Southern California. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Southern California, School of Pharmacy in Los Angeles. While in pharmacy school, Dr Dallal pursued various clinical internships within the acute care and ambulatory care settings at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente. Prior to joining Otsuka, Dr Dallal held various positions within Medical Affairs at Amgen Inc covering the cardiometabolic and nephrology therapeutic areas. She also served as a preceptor at Amgen Inc, where she instructed pharmacy students on Advanced Pharmacy Practice rotations. She is currently licensed as a pharmacist in the state of California with the National Association Board of Pharmacy.