About Us

Executive Planning Committee

Graham Abra headshot

Graham Abra, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor
Stanford University

Pedram Fatehi, MD headshot

Pedram Fatehi, MD

Vice Chair (Education) of Medicine, Clinical Associate Professor
Stanford University School of Medicine

Lit headshot

Yiming Lit, MD

Clinical Associate Professor
Stanford University
Nephrology Fellowship Program Director
Stanford University School of Medicine

Dr Brian Young headshot

Brian Young, MD, FASN

Clinical Professor and Nephrology Fellowship Program Director
UC Davis School of Medicine

Malika Patterson

Malika Patterson

Executive Administrative Assistant
Satellite Healthcare

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Anjali Saxena, MD

Clinical Associate Professor
Stanford University

Dr. Anjali Bhatt Saxena, MD is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and Director of Peritoneal Dialysis at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California. Dr. Saxena completed her BS degree at Duke University and received her MD from Wake Forest University. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency in 2000 at Stanford University, continued on to complete a Postdoctoral Nephrology Fellowship at Stanford University in 2004, and is board certified in Nephrology. She has served as the Medical Director for an independent Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) Clinic in San Jose, CA since 2004, overseeing a large PD clinic. She is a dedicated member of the faculty of the Stanford Nephrology Fellowship Program and has received several teaching awards. She is also specifically dedicated to advancing PD and providing education in home dialysis, and as such has been a faculty member of the Home Dialysis University (HDU, formerly PDU) since 2007, providing home dialysis education to hundreds of US Nephrologists and Nephrology fellows. She has delivered numerous invited lectures at international meetings such as ASN-Kidney Week, the Annual Dialysis Conference, and ISPD conferences. Dr. Saxena is dedicated to the growth and support of PD worldwide; she has served as Treasurer for the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) since 2018 and is a Past-President of the North American Chapter of the ISPD. She is an Educational Ambassador for the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), and together with her Stanford colleagues has developed a sister-Renal Center program that has grown and supported the growth of a PD program in a low income area of Sri Lanka.

Shubha Ananthakrishnan, MD

Clinical Professor
UC Davis School of Medicine

Dr Shubha Ananthakrishnan (“Dr Shubha”) has been a nephrologist at UC Davis since 2011 and is currently the Associate Program Director of the nephrology fellowship.

Dr Shubha completed medical school at Kilpauk Medical College in Chennai, India and completed residency, chief residency and fellowship at Kaiser Permanente. She also completed a fellowship in home dialysis at University Health Network, Toronto, Canada.

Dr Shubha is presently the medical director of the DCI home dialysis clinic at Sacramento, CA.

She is a huge fan of the Golden State Warriors.

Yiming Lit, MD

Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Training Program Director,
Division of Nephrology
Stanford University School of Medicine

Yiming Lit, MD, is the Training Program Director for the Division of Nephrology at Stanford University. Dr. Lit earned her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and her MD at Harvard Medical School. After completing her internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and the joint nephrology fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital, she joined faculty at Stanford University and Palo Alto VA in 2003. She served as the medical director for the dialysis unit for sixteen years and currently is the Nephrology Section Chief at the Palo Alto VA. Dr. Lit has been actively involved in educating and mentoring medical trainees, became the Associate Training Program Director in 2015, and the Training Program Director in 2017.

Pedram Fatehi, MD

Vice Chair (Education) of Medicine, Clinical Associate Professor
Stanford University School of Medicine

Dr. Fatehi is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in Nephrology and Pulmonary-Critical Care Medicine at Stanford University.  He was born in Iran and grew up in Austin, Texas.  After college and medical school at the University of Texas, and graduate school at Yale University, he trained in internal medicine and nephrology and Columbia University in New York City, then completed critical care medicine fellowship at UCSF. After working for several years as a nephrologist-intensivist at UCSF, Sutter, and Kaiser hospitals in the Bay Area, Pedram joined the faculty at Stanford, where he is now Vice Chair of Education in the Department of Medicine and Director of Critical Care Nephrology. Aside from attending in Kidney/Hypertension Clinic and inpatient nephrology service, Pedram also attends in the ICU, teaches medical students in pathophysiology, and participates in quality improvement at Stanford Hospital.

More: https://profiles.stanford.edu/pedram-fatehi

Graham Abra, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor
Stanford University

Dr. Graham Abra is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Nephrology at Stanford. He completed medical school, Internal Medicine residency and chief residency at the University of California, San Diego followed by Nephrology Fellowship at Stanford. He has deep expertise in home dialysis having led numerous efforts in home dialysis care process improvement across Satellite Healthcare over the past decade while most recently serving as the Chief Medical Officer, Home Therapies. His clinical practice is focused on the care of patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and those with End Stage Kidney Disease on peritoneal and home hemodialysis. He serves on the PDOPPS US Advisory Board, co-chairs the ASN Home Dialysis University Virtual Education Program Workgroup, and is an Associate Editor for Nephrology News & Issues.

Jose Morfin, MD

Clinical Professor
UC Davis School of Medicine

Jose Morfin, M.D., is a Sacramento area nephrologist with a University of California pedigree. He received his undergraduate degree at UC Davis and his M.D. from the David Geffen Medical School at UCLA. After doing his residency at UC San Francisco, he accepted a fellowship in nephrology at the UC Davis Medical Center. He is on faculty at UC Davis and is a practicing nephrologist with the UC Davis Medical Group. Today, he is medical director of Satellite Healthcare Folsom.

Nikhil Shah, MD

Nephrologist and Clinical Assistant Professor
University of Alberta
Co-Director, Peritoneal Dialysis Unit
Alberta Kidney Care-North Division
Social Media Editor
International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD)

Dr. Nikhil Shah graduated from medical school from the University of Pune in India where he also completed general internal medicine and nephrology residencies. He qualified as a Diplomate of National Board in India. He came to the University of Alberta as an American Society of Transplantation fellow in kidney transplantation and stayed to complete clinical nephrology and home dialysis clinical research fellowships. He was appointed clinical lecturer in the Division of Nephrology in 2017 and promoted to clinical assistant professor in 2019. Dr. Shah is the co-director of the Peritoneal Dialysis Unit for Alberta Kidney Care – North Division. He is a member of Connect Care’s Renal Area Council and Renal Working Groups for Med IT and Data Transition, tasked with overseeing the creation of a comprehensive provincial EMR for nephrology. He co-chairs a provincial working group for promoting home dialysis for both current and new dialysis patients and is a member of the Alberta Kidney Care – North’s Home Dialysis First Initiative. He is an executive member of NephJC.com, an online medical journal club that uses Twitter for discussing important nephrology literature. He is also faculty for the Nephrology Social Media Collective, an innovative online social media training course for nephrology professionals eager to harness the potential of social media. He is a member of the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis’ Media and Communications Committee and is the upcoming social media editor for the journal Peritoneal Dialysis International.

Osama El-Shamy, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Vanderbilt University

Dr Osama El Shamy is assistant professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. He completed his medical school training at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, residency at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia and completed both his nephrology and home dialysis fellowships at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

He has a vested interested in teaching and home dialysis in particular. He started and is the current program director of the dialysis fellowship at Vanderbilt. He is also the associate medical director of the in-center dialysis unit. Dr El Shamy is currently both an author and reviewer for UpToDate’s peritoneal dialysis section, a hub committee member on the NKF Home Dialysis Project ECHO, member of the steering committee of the Home Hemodialysis Fellowship Training Program through Outset Medical, and co-chair of the NKF Kidney Commute podcast. He is also an editorial fellow for the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Other teaching responsibilities include being a faculty member of Home Dialysis University and leading the ISPD North American Chapter Central Time Zone journal club series.

He is the recipient of the Gold Humanism in Medicine award and is a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.  He has been involved in multiple national and international societies’ meetings, such as the ASN Home Dialysis Focus Group, the ASN post-acute kidney injury on dialysis (AKI-D) care workgroup, and the KDIGO controversies conference in home dialysis. He also served as an abstract review for both the International Society of Nephrology and the American Society of Nephrology meetings.

Sarah Stabenow

Sr. Director, Training and Education
Satellite Healthcare

Sarah Stabenow, RN, MSN, is an experienced healthcare professional with a proven history of making positive changes in the nephrology field. With a diverse background in operations, management, quality improvement, regulatory/compliance, physician relations, and adult education, she brings a wealth of expertise to her roles. Currently serving as the Senior Director of Training and Education at Satellite Healthcare/WellBound, Sarah has been instrumental in shaping educational programs and initiatives since May 2020. Prior to this, she held the position of Director of Education and Training, where she demonstrated her commitment to developing and enhancing educational programs within the healthcare sector from May 2020 to March 2022. Sarah’s collaborative style and skilled communication, including active listening, have allowed her to build strong relationships and drive results for both internal and external partners. She holds a Master of Science (M.S.) in Nursing Administration from Ball State University and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. With her expertise and passion for quality improvement and regulatory compliance, Sarah continues to make significant contributions to the field of nephrology, fostering innovation and driving positive change.

Ken Leidner

Chief Growth Officer
Satellite Healthcare

Ken Leidner is Chief Growth Officer at Satellite Healthcare where he builds relationships with key physician partners, hospitals and health systems to partner to make life better for those with kidney disease. Ken is known for driving growth through acquisitions, partnerships, strategic planning and sales management in healthcare.

Jeff Goffman

Chief Executive Officer
Satellite Healthcare

Jeffrey is a seasoned healthcare executive with more than 20 years of experience in multi-state, multi-site healthcare services with a broad focus on physician practice management, patient quality care, alternative payment models, operations, compliance, ancillary services, MSO support services, de novos, acquisitions and hospital joint ventures. 

Jeffrey was the Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Oncology Network, LLC (ION), which he founded in 2008 and led until 2019.  ION is a national oncology company headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., that provides management services to its physician and hospital partners.  ION owns more than 50 oncology centers in 17 states and in partnership with approximately 450 physicians (medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, urologists & surgeons) and 20 hospitals, including some of the most prestigious healthcare systems in the United States.  ION provides all MSO services and operations oversight. Jeffrey led ION through a private equity recapitalization in 2018, and thereafter, successfully implemented a growth strategy that more than tripled the size of ION. 

Jeffrey was previously the Chief Executive Officer of OnCURE Medical Corp. (OnCURE) from its inception in 1998 until 2006.  OnCURE was one of the largest providers of outpatient radiation oncology care in the United States. OnCURE was private equity-sponsored and sold in 2006, at which time, it owned and managed 40 centers in California and Florida and affiliated with approximately 100 physicians.   

He currently serves on the board of directors of OneGI, a gastroenterology physician practice management company. Jeffrey is also a passionate member of the board of directors of the American Cancer Society’s CEOs Against Cancer and CureDuchenne, which is dedicated to saving the lives of young boys.

Jeffrey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the Barney School of Business at the University of Hartford.  He is a former licensed Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Brigitte Schiller, MD, FACP, FASN

Chief Medical Officer
Satellite Healthcare

Dr. Schiller has been Chief Medical Officer at Satellite Healthcare since 2010. In this role, Dr. Schiller is responsible for Quality, Physician Leadership and Research & Development.

She oversees the development and implementation of the quality strategy, its execution and organizational infrastructure. Dr. Schiller serves as Chief of Staff, and as such provides oversight on more than 80 medical directors and over 400 referring physicians. As CMO Dr. Schiller is responsible for the delivery of care to more than 8,000 dialysis patients, more than 20% of these patients are on home dialysis.

She directs Satellite’s clinical research efforts, which by deliberate policy are applied pragmatic real-world studies directed towards improvement in patient experience and outcomes.

Under her leadership, Satellite Healthcare has achieved the highest quality ratings in the CMS 5 Star Ratings for several years. Dr. Schiller has participated as investigator in multiple FDA trials. She is a published author in many areas of ESRD care, including home dialysis.

She is known as an inspirational leader who is determined to transform the care of patients with chronic kidney disease through quality improvement efforts, innovative drugs and devices as well as alternative care models unchanged since 1973.

Dr. Schiller serves as an Adjunct Lecturer in the Division of Nephrology at Stanford University. She serves on the Expert Panel for the USRDS database.

She is the mother of two sons, loves opera, travel, gardening, and the endorphin rush with exercise.

Vanessa Evans

Sr. Manager of Advocacy and Communities
Fresenius Medical Care (FMCNA)

Vanessa Evans has been on dialysis for over 22 years and lives in Boston, MA with her husband and two sons. A passionate advocate for the last 14 years, Vanessa does not let her diagnosis slow her down. She works full-time as the Sr. Manager of Advocacy and Communities for FMCNA. Vanessa has a master’s degree from Emerson College and a BA in Political Science from University of Massachusetts’s, Amherst. She has presented for many organizations including: NKF, PCORI, ANNA, AAKP, FDA and HHS. She is considered an expert in patient experience and engagement.

Luis Alvarez, MD

Chief Technology and Innovation Advisor
Outset Medical

Dr. Alvarez serves as Outset’s Chief Technology and Innovation Advisor, and is currently the Chair of Nephrology at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Sutter Health. Following his doctoral work in biophysics, he worked in the pharmaceutical and device industries. A former advisor to the Stanford Biodesign Department, Dr. Alvarez remains committed to the application of industrial continuous quality improvement concepts to the field of nephrology, including transformation of the acute renal failure care model both in the intensive unit and sub-acute hospital settings. In this capacity he also serves as a consultant to Satellite Dialysis acute care services. In addition, Dr. Alvarez is a Board member of Satellite Healthcare where he is active on the Medical Policy Committee. He also serves as Medical Director for Satellite WellBound of Fremont. While maintaining a clinical practice, Dr. Alvarez devotes his time at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation working on integration of clinical services across divisions with the formation of medical service lines and development of shared risk models of payment reform.

Wael Hussein, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Research and Development
Satellite Healthcare

Dr. Hussein is the Chief Medical Officer of Research & Development at Satellite Healthcare. He works with his team to support home dialysis patients, following a strategy that involves patient education and activation, and support for patient and family. Over the last few years, he worked on transitional care units, assisted peritoneal dialysis, development of a standardized home patient survey, and identification of high-risk PD patients using machine learning and clinician input, among other projects.

Dr. Hussein graduated from Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum. He specialized in General Internal Medicine and Nephrology in Ireland. He subsequently completed a nephrology fellowship at Stanford. Afterwards, he returned to Ireland, where he practiced as a nephrologist and contributed to academic medicine. He then returned to California to join the Satellite Healthcare Research & Development team.

Jay Agarwal, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Value-Based Care
Satellite Healthcare

Dr. Agarwal leads Satellite Healthcare’s efforts to promote value-based care by improving patient outcomes and reducing unnecessary costs, through holistic and innovative approaches to patient health and wellness before they experience loss of kidney function.  

Dr. Agarwal has also served as regional medical director for UnitedHealth Group, overseeing quality improvement, clinical and financial outcomes for its end stage renal disease and chronic kidney disease program. His prior roles include chief executive officer of Nephrology Associates Medical Group and various leadership positions with DaVita.  He attained his MBA from the University of Michigan and his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine.

Nupur Gupta, MD

Nephrology
Indiana University Health

Dr. Nupur Gupta chose her specialty for the complexity and involvement of all the other organs. She enjoys the lasting relationships she develops with her patients. Her practice philosophy is to develop patient-centered treatment plans that provide the highest quality of care. Aside from medicine, Dr. Gupta enjoys playing tennis with her husband and spending time with their two children.

Eric Weinhandl, PhD

Vice President of Applied Data & Strategy
Satellite Healthcare

Eric Weinhandl is a highly respected epidemiologist in the home dialysis arena. Eric has a deep and rich background researching chronic kidney disease, including all types of dialysis and related pharmacologic interventions. He is recognized internationally for his deep knowledge of home dialysis and unique expertise in related analytics, having worked at the national registry, in the device industry, and with dialysis providers. He is a sought-after speaker at national and international meetings and is widely published in the field of ESKD. Eric graduated from St. Olaf College with a B.A. degree in Mathematics, and subsequently from the University of Minnesota with an M.S. degree in Biostatistics and a Ph.D. in epidemiology.

Michael Aragon, MD

Chief Medical Officer
Outset Medical

Michael Aragon joined Outset as Chief Medical Officer in September 2018, after 14 years of clinical practice as a founding partner and President of North Texas Kidney Consultants- DFW. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology, receiving his training at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston. His clinical research focus has been on the expansion and improvement of home dialysis options for patients with renal disease.

Michael received his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University, and his medical degree from The University of Texas Medical School.

Brian Young, MD, FASN

Clinical Professor and Nephrology fellowship Program Director
UC Davis School of Medicine

Dr. Young has been at UC Davis Health since 2017, where he is currently the program director for the nephrology fellowship program. Dr. Young attended undergraduate at Harvard University where he majored in Biochemical science. He attended medical school as part of a joint Drew / UCLA Medical Education Program, and subsequently did both his residency and nephrology fellowship at UCLA, graduating in 2007. After training, Dr. Young worked as a nephrologist at both UCLA and subsequently Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, from 2010-2016, where he was adjunct faculty within the Stanford Division of Nephrology until taking up a position at UC Davis Health in 2017. Dr. Young is passionate about promoting home dialysis and its benefits to patients.

Sijie Zheng, MD

Nephrology Specialist
Kaiser Permanente

Dr. Sijie Zheng grew up in Shanghai, China. He moved to Philadelphia after graduating from high school and attended Temple University from 1990-1994, majoring in biology. After finishing college, he decided to become a doctor, just like his father who is a physician in China. He then continued his education at Temple University and graduated in 2001 with both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees.

After Dr. Zheng graduated from medical school, he finished his internship and residency in internal medicine at Pennsylvania State University in Hershey, Pennsylvania. During his residency, he decided to become a nephrologist, because as a nephrologist, he could treat a patient as a whole person instead of individual organ systems. After his residency, he was trained to treat people with kidney disease at Washington University in St. Louis.