Stephen Pastan is Professor of Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine and Medical Director of the kidney and pancreas transplant program at the Emory Transplant Center. He completed his medical education at Harvard Medical School and his Internal Medicine and fellowship training at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital. His research focuses on understanding the causes of barriers to renal transplantation, particularly among socioeconomically disadvantaged and minority patients, and working to break down those barriers. Dr. Pastan has served as principal investigator and co-investigator on several NIMHD- and NIDDK-funded studies related to improving the outcomes of kidney transplant patients and reducing disparities in access to kidney transplantation. He currently Chairs the Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition; its mission is to improve kidney transplant rates, which are the lowest in the Southeast United States, and to reduce the racial disparities. Dr. Pastan chairs the local board of directors of IPRO End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Network 6 and is also an active board member of the National Forum of ESRD Networks. He is a former member of the National Kidney Foundation Board of Directors for which he chaired the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Renal Transplant Task Force and co-chaired the NKF Consensus Conference to Decrease Kidney Discards. Dr. Pastan has over 30 years of experience caring for patients with chronic kidney disease, dialysis, and kidney transplant.