Miguel Almaguer López MD Nephrologist. Chief of preventive nephrology services and distinguished researcher at Havana’s Institute of Nephrology. Dr Almaguer is associate professor at the Medical University of Havana. His research includes population-based studies of chronic kidney disease, diabetic kidney disease, renal lithiasis and urinary tract infections.

Guillermo García-García MD FACP FASN Nephrologist. Professor and director of the nephrology department at the University of Guadalajara Health Sciences Center. A pioneer in chronic kidney disease detection and treatment in Mexico, he is chair of the International Society of Nephrology’s (ISN) Committee on Kidney Health in Disadvantaged Populations and president of the International Federation of Kidney Foundations.

Jason Glaser Policy analyst and strategist. Mr Glaser was confronted by the chronic kidney disease epidemic while filming a documentary on agricultural workers in Central America. He is president and cofounder of La Isla Foundation, a nongovernmental organization in León, Nicaragua, dedicated to addressing the epidemic primarily in sugarcane workers in the Central American region and elsewhere.

Raúl Herrera Valdés MD PhD DrSc Nephrologist. Full professor and distinguished researcher at Havana’s Nephrology Institute, which he directed from 1988 through 2006. He has led numerous studies of renal disease, including clinical trials on use of Cuban recombinant erythropoietin in CKD patients and the groundbreaking Isle of Youth Study (ISYS). In 2014, Dr Herrera received the Carlos J. Finlay Medal, the highest honor in Cuban public health.

Saroj Jayasinghe MBBS MD FRCP Physician. Dr Jayasinghe is a professor of clinical medicine at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. A fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and the Ceylon College of Physicians, his research interests include health inequalities, social determinants of health, poverty and health, and the application of complexity science to health.

Richard J. Johnson MD Nephrologist. Professor of medicine and chief of nephrology at the University of Colorado in Denver, USA. Dr Johnson has been actively researching Mesoamerican nephropathy in Central America. He has published over 500 articles and is coeditor of the textbook, Comprehensive Clinical Nephrology.

Laura López-Marín MD MS Anatomical pathologist and associate professor at Havana’s Nephrology Institute. In addition to her work on renal disease, she has done extensive research on atherosclerosis, in collaboration with other major research centers in Havana.

Carlos M. Orantes Navarro MD Nephrologist and national coordinator of renal research for the Salvadoran Ministry of Health’s National Health Institute, where he also serves on a task force to implement a renal health program in rural areas. His primary research is on chronic kidney disease of nontraditional etiology in Salvadoran rural communities.

Pedro Ordúñez García MD PhD Internist and leading public health expert, Dr Ordúñez is PAHO/WHO advisor on chronic disease prevention and control. After a fellowship in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, he earned a doctorate in public health from Cuba’s National School of Public Health.

Norberto Perico MD Nephrologist at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Bergamo, Italy, where he heads the program in drug development for rare diseases. Dr Perico’s research focuses on new treatments for polycystic kidney disease, novel immunosuppressive agents for kidney transplantation and innovative approaches to induce graft tolerance. He is a member of the ISN’s Research and Prevention Committee and the ISN/WHO Interaction Group.

Nathan Raines MPH Medical student with a master’s degree in public health. Mr Raines founded the research mission into Mesoamerican nephropathy (MeN) in Nicaragua at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA. He has collaborated with researchers at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua-León and La Isla Foundation on MeN etiology.

Giuseppe Remuzzi MD FRCP Nephrologist. Dr Remuzzi is director of the medicine department and of the nephrology and dialysis unit at Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, Italy, and also heads the Negri Bergamo Laboratories at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research. His award-winning research has focused on improving the outlook for patients with end-stage renal disease. When Dr Remuzzi took office as President of the International Society of Nephrology in 2013, he stated “ISN may advocate a human rights case statement that 0 people should die of untreated acute kidney injury in the poorest parts of Africa, Asia and South America by 2025.”

María Isabel Rodríguez MD Cardiologist. Dr Rodríguez’s 65-year career in medicine and public health has encompassed research, teaching, and reform of both health systems and medical education. She became El Salvador´s Minister of Health in 2009, earlier elected the first female rector of the University of El Salvador and named the first female dean of its Faculty of Medicine. Dr Rodríguez has served as PAHO/WHO country representative and advisor in various nations, leading initiatives to strengthen regional cooperation. She has received multiple awards for her contributions to medicine, education and public policy, as well as honoris causa doctorates from nine universities.

Luis C. Silva Ayçaguer PhD DrSc Mathematician and biostatistician. Dr Silva is full professor and senior researcher at Cuba’s National Medical Sciences Information Center in Havana. His work on statistical methods for epidemiologic research has been widely published, and his current research focuses on adverse effects of medications.

Darcy R. VanDervort Master’s degree candidate in environmental science at the University of Arizona, USA. Her undergraduate work in environmental geology led to her current research on emerging contaminants in wastewater treatment and associated cellular toxicities.

Xavier F. Vela MD Physician trained at the University of El Salvador Faculty of Medicine. In 2013, Dr Vela did a rotation in renal health at El Salvador’s National Health Institute, San Salvador, where he conducted research for the article in this issue.

Kamani Wanigasuriya MBBS MD MPhil FRCP FCCP Physician and professor of medicine at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. A member of Sri Lanka’s Association of Nephrology and Transplantation, she served on the country’s national task force to investigate chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology.

Ilana Weiss MA MPH Policy analyst and public health professional. Ms Weiss is senior director of policy and public health at La Isla Foundation, León, Nicaragua. She holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University, New York, USA.