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President’s Message
Board Members
Nancy Scott President
Gary Barron Vice President
Devon Osborne Secretary
Mike Guffey Treasurer
Diane Brisbane
Andrew Conkling
Julie Crandall
Christina Esposito
Danny Iniguez
Bob Lee
Jack Reynolds
Advisory Council
Sandra Amaral M.D., M.H.S.
Akhtar Ashfaq M.D.
Laura Bishop M.B.A., M.S., R.D., L.D.N
Teri Bourdeau Ph.D.
Kerri Cavanaugh M.D., M.H.S.
Debbie Cote M.S.N., R.N., C.N.N., N.E.-B.C.
Steven Curtiss M.D.
Kerry Cooper M.D.
Stephanie Johnstone L.C.S.W.
Elizabeth Jones L.C.S.W.
Rajnish Mehrotra M.D.
Cheryl Neal M.D.
Kathi Niccum Ed.D.
Velma P. Scantlebury M.D., FACS
Barry Smith M.D., Ph.D
Kathleen Smith B.S., R.N., C.N.N.
On behalf of the Board of
Directors, staff and volunteers
for Dialysis Patient Citizens
(DPC) Education Center, I
want to thank the kidney
community for its continued
support. I would also like
to personally express my
appreciation to all of you who
so generously help us advance
our mission. Without your
help and the broad support
of the kidney community, we
would not be able to carry out
our vital mission.
As a kidney failure patient myself, I know firsthand the importance of patient education and the critical
role it plays in improving our health. In fact, I often tell others that “when you know better, you do
better.” That passion for patient education, which I share with the rest of our Board, helped lead to
the formation the DPC Education Center and its mission to empower individuals through education to
improve kidney patients’ quality of life and reduce the occurrence of end stage renal disease (ESRD).
With that said, we need your continued assistance to carry out and fulfill our mission. One way that
you can make a difference, is to mail in a contribution in the enclosed envelope today. Your donation
will go directly to our efforts to raise awareness about kidney disease as we work to delay and hopefully
prevent kidney failure in others. We thank and appreciate every individual that has given, and continues
to give, to our mission.
Your contribution will go a long way in helping us fulfill our mission at the DPC Education Center. In
2015, we created a new Advisory Council with leaders from the kidney community and beyond, who
provide us with expertise in the formation and review of the educational resources that we provide. We
developed new mental health handouts in association with the American Psychological Association and
participated in critical forums on health literacy and mental health. We also made the DPC Education
Center website more responsive and easier to use on smart phones and tablets. Finally, we launched
this new print newsletter, “The Kidney Citizen.”
While we had many successes in 2015, our work is far from done. In 2016, we have many goals to help
us expand our mission. Some of our priorities include improving access to cutting edge patient-driven
educational materials, providing additional resources and trainings for patients to become more active
in their care, and continuing to collaborate with partners to bring the best ideas to the table to advance
patient care. We will also continue to provide programs that help advance patient choice, prevent and
delay the onset of kidney disease, and improve health outcomes.
We also need your help in getting out our critical information. We encourage you to participate in and
spread the word about our educational offerings. Only through education can we empower people to
make the right decisions regarding their health. I hope I can count on your support, as we work together
to improve the quality of life for all kidney disease patients.
Sincerely,
Joan Thomas M.P.A., C.E.M., A.B.C.P., M.E.P.
Nancy L. Scott
Board President