Harvard-based nephrologist Theodore Steinman and former DaVita chief medical officer Charles McAllister have been selected to receive the American Association of Kidney Patients' 2012 Medal of Excellence Award. The award recognizes a renal physician(s) for their extraordinary skills and devotion in the field of nephrology.

Steinman has been in nephrology practice for over 50 years and currently serves as Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Director, Dialysis Unit, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. He is past-president of the Renal Physicians Association, past chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation, and has served on numerous committees with the National Kidney Foundation, including its Medical Advisory Board and the Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative (K/DOQI).

McAllister is credited with starting the first dialysis program in southern Florida after completing his nephrology fellowship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. He has worked closely with the U.S. Naval Hospital in Orlando to develop educational programs for veterans with kidney disease that have been used extensively throughout the VA system. He has also served as the Chief Medical Officer of DaVita Inc. McAllister has served on the boards of several associations, including the American Medical Association, American Society of Nephrology, Renal Physicians Association, and the End-Stage Renal Disease Network 7.

The two men will be honored at a dinner being held during the Renal Physicians Association's annual meeting, March 15-18, in Washington, D.C. For more information, go to www.aakp.org.