New Opportunities for Equity in Kidney Disease
Joel Ackerman became our Chief Financial Officer in February 2017 after serving as our Senior Vice President, Finance from February 2017 to February 2017. Effective April 2019, Mr. Ackerman was also appointed to serve as our Treasurer. Prior to joining us, Mr. Ackerman was the chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Champions Oncology, Inc., a company engaged in the development of advanced technology solutions and services to personalize the development and use of oncology drugs, since October 2010. Mr. Ackerman is currently the chairman of the board of Champions Oncology. Mr. Ackerman served as a managing director at Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm, where he led the healthcare services team for 10 years from January 1999 to September 2008. He served on the board of directors at Kindred Healthcare, Inc. a post-acute provider in the United States, from December 2008 to July 2018, and served on the board of directors of Coventry Health Care, Inc. a national managed care company, from September 1999 until its acquisition by Aetna Inc. in May 2013. He is also chairman of the board of One Acre Fund, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on smallholder agriculture, and serves subsistence farmers in Africa.
Joel Ackerman became our Chief Financial Officer in February 2017 after serving as our Senior Vice President, Finance from February 2017 to February 2017. Effective April 2019, Mr. Ackerman was also appointed to serve as our Treasurer. Prior to joining us, Mr. Ackerman was the chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Champions Oncology, Inc., a company engaged in the development of advanced technology solutions and services to personalize the development and use of oncology drugs, since October 2010. Mr. Ackerman is currently the chairman of the board of Champions Oncology. Mr. Ackerman served as a managing director at Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm, where he led the healthcare services team for 10 years from January 1999 to September 2008. He served on the board of directors at Kindred Healthcare, Inc. a post-acute provider in the United States, from December 2008 to July 2018, and served on the board of directors of Coventry Health Care, Inc. a national managed care company, from September 1999 until its acquisition by Aetna Inc. in May 2013. He is also chairman of the board of One Acre Fund, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on smallholder agriculture, and serves subsistence farmers in Africa.
Nwamaka Eneanya, MD, MPH, FASN is currently an attending nephrologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the Director of Health Equity, Anti-Racism and Community Engagement in the Nephrology Division. Dr. Eneanya holds an undergraduate degree from Cornell University, a medical degree from Meharry Medical College, and a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and nephrology training at the combined Nephrology Fellowship Program at Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Eneanya is a clinical investigator with research interests that center on palliative care, treatment decision-making and health equity among patients with chronic kidney disease. Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and the American Society of Nephrology. In 2020, she was recognized as a 40 under 40 Leader in Minority Health by the National Minority Quality Forum.
Nwamaka Eneanya, MD, MPH, FASN is currently an attending nephrologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the Director of Health Equity, Anti-Racism and Community Engagement in the Nephrology Division. Dr. Eneanya holds an undergraduate degree from Cornell University, a medical degree from Meharry Medical College, and a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and nephrology training at the combined Nephrology Fellowship Program at Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Eneanya is a clinical investigator with research interests that center on palliative care, treatment decision-making and health equity among patients with chronic kidney disease. Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and the American Society of Nephrology. In 2020, she was recognized as a 40 under 40 Leader in Minority Health by the National Minority Quality Forum.
Robert “Bobby” Sepucha is the CEO of Interwell Health, the nation's premier, physician-centric value-based kidney care provider, with a nationwide network of more than 1,600 nephrology providers. Interwell Health is dedicated to providing the resources physicians need to thrive in a value-based world and improve the lives of those living with chronic kidney disease.  Previously, Bobby was CEO of Cricket Health, one of the first health technology companies to address kidney care. Cricket Health combined with Fresenius Health Partners and Interwell Health in 2022 to create the new Interwell Health.  Before Cricket Health, Bobby spent seven years with Fresenius Medical Care in Government Affairs and Corporate Affairs leadership roles. Earlier in his career, he served as general counsel at the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, chief of staff to Congressman Harold Ford, Jr., and practiced as an attorney in Gunderson Dettmer’s Silicon Valley and Boston offices specializing in venture capital and high-tech startups.  Bobby received his JD from the University of Michigan and a BA from Dartmouth College.
Robert “Bobby” Sepucha is the CEO of Interwell Health, the nation's premier, physician-centric value-based kidney care provider, with a nationwide network of more than 1,600 nephrology providers. Interwell Health is dedicated to providing the resources physicians need to thrive in a value-based world and improve the lives of those living with chronic kidney disease.  Previously, Bobby was CEO of Cricket Health, one of the first health technology companies to address kidney care. Cricket Health combined with Fresenius Health Partners and Interwell Health in 2022 to create the new Interwell Health.  Before Cricket Health, Bobby spent seven years with Fresenius Medical Care in Government Affairs and Corporate Affairs leadership roles. Earlier in his career, he served as general counsel at the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, chief of staff to Congressman Harold Ford, Jr., and practiced as an attorney in Gunderson Dettmer’s Silicon Valley and Boston offices specializing in venture capital and high-tech startups.  Bobby received his JD from the University of Michigan and a BA from Dartmouth College.
Dr. Williams is the Associate Chief of the MGH Division of Nephrology and Founding Director of the MGH Center for Diversity and Inclusion. Dr. Williams has a long, foundational track record at MGH in the development of programs to enhance the diversity of the physician workforce here and at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Over the past two decades, he has helped develop critical initiatives to support hospital-wide diversity goals. Dr. Williams graduated from Harvard College, cum laude, with a B.A. in Biochemical Sciences. He went on to medical school at the New York University School of Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in health policy addressing disparities in the care of end stage renal disease and organ transplantation. He is currently serving (and has served) on several national committees addressing key policy issues in nephrology and transplantation and is past chair of the AST and OPTN/UNOS Minority Affairs Committees and member of the Board of Directors at UNOS, the governing body for organ allocation in the U.S. In his research endeavors, Dr. Williams’ most recent work focuses on transplantation across select ABO incompatible blood groups to increase access to transplantation for ethnic minority patients. The findings of his 2015 landmark study—published as the cover article for the Amer J of Transplantation—helped provide the basis for a new kidney allocation algorithm, resulting in an increase in the rate of transplantation for ethnic minority patients in the US.
Dr. Williams is the Associate Chief of the MGH Division of Nephrology and Founding Director of the MGH Center for Diversity and Inclusion. Dr. Williams has a long, foundational track record at MGH in the development of programs to enhance the diversity of the physician workforce here and at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Over the past two decades, he has helped develop critical initiatives to support hospital-wide diversity goals. Dr. Williams graduated from Harvard College, cum laude, with a B.A. in Biochemical Sciences. He went on to medical school at the New York University School of Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in health policy addressing disparities in the care of end stage renal disease and organ transplantation. He is currently serving (and has served) on several national committees addressing key policy issues in nephrology and transplantation and is past chair of the AST and OPTN/UNOS Minority Affairs Committees and member of the Board of Directors at UNOS, the governing body for organ allocation in the U.S. In his research endeavors, Dr. Williams’ most recent work focuses on transplantation across select ABO incompatible blood groups to increase access to transplantation for ethnic minority patients. The findings of his 2015 landmark study—published as the cover article for the Amer J of Transplantation—helped provide the basis for a new kidney allocation algorithm, resulting in an increase in the rate of transplantation for ethnic minority patients in the US.