Richard is a business strategist with twenty-five years of experience in strategic planning and other functional business areas. I am a leader who solves problems and implements strategies using transformational business approaches. I provide a unique blend of leadership skills.As the former President of AAKP, I leveraged my analytical acumen and strategic communication skills to champion patient advocacy and education, influence policy analysis, and implement national strategies. This role underscored my resolve for leadership that makes a tangible difference in people's lives.More recently, Richard has held significant roles, including membership in the National Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Advisory Council, Co-Chair of the NIDDK Strategic Plan Stakeholder Engagement Subgroup, and participation in the Steering Committee for NIDDK’s Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP) and the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) Visiting Committee. He has also contributed to nine Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Technical Expert Panels (TEPs).Richard is a Board Member of the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC). He co-chairs the NIDDK KPMP’s Community Engagement Committee. He serves on the Xenotransplantation Advisory Committee and the Collaborating Leaders to Address Racism with Interventions for Equity-Kidney Disease (CLARIFy-KD) Project. Richard also serves as Chair of the Patient Advisory Committee for the NIH/NIDDK project Caring for OutPatiEnts after Acute Kidney Injury (COPE-AKI). He is a member of the International Society of Nephrologists’ Patient Liaison Advisory Group (PLAG) and the Critical Path Institute’s BioMarker Data Repository Governing Committee.Richard's commitment has been recognized with the President’s Volunteer Service Award from President Trump in 2020 and the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award from President Biden in 2022. In 2017, he received the President's Award from the American Society of Nephrologists.As an international advocate for kidney patients, Richard frequently speaks on topics such as increasing diversity in clinical trials and restructuring healthcare systems to offer more innovative patient choices. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Nature, Clinical Transplantation, the American Journal of Kidney Disease, and Patient Education and Counseling.