Scientific Advisory Board

Rajiv Agarwal, M.D.

Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN

Dr. Agarwal is a Professor of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine, where he joined the faculty in 1996. He is a staff physician in the Department of Medicine at Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Agarwal’s scientific investigations focus in the area of hypertension in hemodialysis. Dr. Agarwal has independent NIH support to study hypertension in hemodialysis patients and is recognized as an expert in this field.

He earned his MBBS degree and completed his residency, including one year as Chief Resident, from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India. In 1993 he completed a Nephrology Fellowship from University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. Dr. Agarwal is a Fellow of the American Heart Association, Fellow of the American Society of Nephrology and an ASH Certified Hypertension Specialist. He serves on the editorial board of Kidney International, Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation, Hypertension, Seminars in Dialysis, World Scientific Journal and Current Clinical Pharmacology. He is an Associate Editor of NephSAP and American Journal of Nephrology.

James Cook, M.D.

Former Phillips Professor of Medical Research and Director of Hematology, and currently retired Professor Emeritus, Kansas University, Kansas City, Kansas

Dr. Cook is an expert in human iron metabolism with special emphasis on iron absorption, internal iron kinetics and the clinical assessment of iron status. Dr. Cook has served as Chairman on several national and international research/advisory committees including the Expert Panel on Iron, International Committee for Standardization in Hematology (1981); Subcommittee on Nutritional Anemia, American Society of Hematology (1979); Subcommittee on Iron Methodology, National Committee for Clinical and Laboratory Standards (1979-95); International Center for Control of Nutritional Anemia (ICCNA), University of Kansas Medical Center (1982-94), and Iron Subcommittee, FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Requirements of Vitamin A, Iron, Folate and Vitamin B12 (1985). Dr. Cook retired from teaching and clinical practice as Professor Emeritus at Kansas University in 2007. Dr. Cook graduated from Queen's University, Canada with an M.D. degree in 1960 and M.Sc (Med) in 1963. He obtained his clinical training in Internal Medicine at Boston City Hospital and hematology training at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he remained on faculty until 1975. 

Dr. Alvin L. Crumbliss, Ph.D.

Bishop-Macdermott family professor of Chemistry at Duke University, dean of the faculty of arts & sciences and the dean of trinity college, duke university 

Dr. Alvin L. Crumbliss Ph.D. is an internationally recognized expert in iron chemistry, having authored over 200 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters in his distinguished career. He has served as a Councilor to American Chemical Society since 1998, and is the Associate Editor of the journal BioMetals. In addition, Dr. Crumbliss currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of the journal Metallomics and the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry.

Ajay Gupta, M.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Ajay Gupta, is the Chief Scientific Officer and has served in that position since he joined the company in June of 2009. Dr. Gupta has been a member of Rockwell’s Scientific Advisory Board since November, 2005. From 2002 to 2005, Dr. Gupta was an Associate Professor of Medicine at UCLA and Charles Drew University Schools of Medicine in Los Angeles; while at UCLA, he has had an active nephrology practice. Dr. Gupta is the inventor of dialysate iron therapy using Soluble Ferric Pyrophosphate (SFP) as well as the inventor of intravenous (IV) iron therapy using slow continuous infusion of SFP. He has filed a number of patents in the areas of drugs, medical devices and diagnostic tests. Dr. Gupta earned his MBBS degree and completed his residency in Internal Medicine from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. In 1990, he completed a Nephrology Clinical/Research Fellowship from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. He has served on the faculty at Washington University, St. Louis; State University of New York, Syracuse; University of Alabama, Birmingham and Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI. Dr. Gupta is the founder and Chairman of the Indian Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Richard Hurrell, Ph.D.

Professor for Human Nutrition and Head of the Laboratory of Human Nutrition, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland

Dr. Hurrell is the Professor for Human Nutrition and Head of the Laboratory of Human Nutrition at the Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland. He is a consultant on food fortification to leading multinational food companies and international agencies and was previously the Head of the Micronutrient Research Team and the Coordinator for Infant Nutrition Research at the Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne. Dr. Hurrell has more than 130 publications in the areas of iron bioavailability, iron fortification, iron and iodine nutrition in developing countries, mineral absorption using stable isotopes, influence of food processing on nutritional value of foods. Dr. Hurrell holds a Ph.D. in Nutrition from Cambridge University and BSc Honors Degree in Food Technology from Reading University.

Professor Francesco Locatelli, M.D., FRCPB

scientific director of the department of nephrology, dialysis and renal transplantation at alessandro manzoni hospital lecco, italy 

Professor Locatelli is an internationally known nephrologist and anemia expert.  He is Scientific Director of the Department of Nephrology, Dialysis and Renal Transplantation at Alessandro Manzoni Hospital Lecco, Italy.  He is Past President of European Renal Association – European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA-EDTA), International Society of Blood Purification (ISBP) and of the Italian Society of Nephrology.  He is honorable fellow of Royal College of Physician of London, U. K. (FRCP), International Distinguished Medalist and recipient of the Garabed Eknoyan Award of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF).  Professor Locatelli has served as Chairman of the board European Best Practice Guidelines (EBPG) and on the boards of National Kidney Foundation, Dialysis Outcome Quality Improvement (NKF-DOQI), the executive board of directors of Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) and he is on the board of European Renal Best Practice (ERBP).  He was President of World Congress of Nephrology 2009 in Milan.  He is current President of International Society of Geriatric Nephrology and Council Member of International Society of Nephrology (ISN).  Professor Locatelli also serves on the editorial staff of numerous journals, including Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation (NDT) and the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). 

Iain Macdougal, BSc(Hons), M.D., FRCP  

CONSULTANT NEPHROLOGIST AND HONORARY SENIOr LECTURER AT KING'S COLLEGE HOSPITAL, LONDON

Dr. Iain C. Macdougall is a Consultant Nephrologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer at King's College Hospital, London since 1996. His major research interests are in the field of renal anemia. Dr. Macdougall has led numerous Phase I, II and III clinical trials of oral iron, intravenous iron, and ESAs including erythropoietin, darbepoetin, C.E.R.A., and Hematide. Dr. Macdougall has published over 160 peer reviewed research publications and has been a member of both US and European anemia guidelines working groups.

Dr. Ajay Singh, MBBS, FRCP (UK), MBA

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, CAMBRIDGE, MA

Dr. Ajay Singh is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and has previously served as Clinical Chief of the Renal Division and Medical Director of the Dialysis Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston from 1998-2008. His major research interests are in the areas of renal anemia, ESA and chronic kidney diseases. Dr. Singh was the principal investigator of the CHOIR study and has published over 100 peer reviewed journal articles, books and book chapters and is a member of the Editorial Boards of Kidney International and Journal of American Society of Nephrology. He has served as an expert witness to the House Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, as an Invited Guest of CDRAC at the FDA and as an Expert presenter at the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee. Dr. Singh earned his MBBS degree at the University of London and completed his residency from Southland Hospital, Essex, UK in 1987. In 1992, he completed a Nephrology Fellowship from Tufts-New England Medical Center.

Richard Zager, M.D.

Director of Nephrology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Professor of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle

Dr. Zager currently serves as the Director of Nephrology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He is a board certified internist and nephrologist with 35 years of clinical experience. He has supervised a NIH funded basic research laboratory for the past 30 years, with a primary interest in acute renal injury and acute renal failure. His work focuses on cellular pathways of acute oxidant and non-oxidant injury, and subsequent post-injury adaptive responses. He has had a particular interest in iron-mediated renal injury, as induced by either porphyrin iron containing proteins (most notably, hemoglobin, myoglobin, or cytochrome) or by clinically employed iron-carbohydrate complexes (e.g., Fe sucrose, gluconate, dextrose, as used to treat clinical iron deficiency). He is an elected member of the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Zager graduated from Northwestern Medical School and did his post graduate medical training at UCLA Medical Center, The University of Washington in Seattle, Boston University, and Harvard Medical School.