Dr. Raymond R. Townsend is a Professor of Medicine and an Associate Director of the Clinical & Translational Research Center/CTSA at the University of Pennsylvania. His formal certifications are in internal medicine (ABIM), nephrology (ABIM), clinical pharmacology (ASCP) and hypertension (ASH). He is a fellow in the American Heart Association and a fellow of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research. He is a Principal Investigator in the NIDDK Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) “CRIC” cohort study. His research interests are in CKD progression and the role of vascular compliance studies in predicting progression, as well as incident/prevalent cardiovascular disease in the CKD population. He is a member of the NHLBI JNC-8 panel and is scheduled to Chair the 2010 AHA Hypertension Summer School.