Richard Knight

Richard A. Knight is a former hemodialysis patient who received a kidney transplant approximately eleven years ago. He is Vice President of the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) and Chair of the Public Policy Committee and a member of the Board of Directors of the Mid Atlantic Renal Coalition (MARC). He was recently appointed to the Steering Committee of the Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP) housed at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

Knight has a background in public policy and Congressional operations based on both his professional experience on Capitol Hill where he served in various roles including communications, policy and Legislative Director as well his advocacy work as a kidney transplant patient. While working in the U.S. House of Representatives, Knight was served as a liaison to the Congressional Black Caucus for his Member of Congress and was involved in substantial work with the House Energy and Commerce and Small Business Committees. Knight’s knowledge of Executive Branch agency budget and procurement policies is based on direct experience as a Federal government contractor and as a ten-year co-chair of the Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce annual regional government procurement fair.

Knight received his MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School Of Business and his BA from Hampton University. He is a business strategist, providing patient engagement consulting for healthcare organizations and businesses developing tools designed to leverage patient input and preferences in their care plans and quality measures. As a small business owner, he is heavily involved in business and education issues through multiple executive networks in the Washington, D.C. region. He serves as adjunct professor at Bowie State University (BSU). He is a founding member of BSU’s College of Business Advisory Council.

As a national kidney patient advocate, Knight was recently appointed to serve a member of the National Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Advisory Council and serves as a designated AAKP Board representative to the National Quality Forum (NQF) Measure Application’s Partnership Hospital Workgroup as well as the Board of Directors of the National Council of Patient Information and Education (NCPIE). He has served as a member of four Technical Expert Panels (TEPs) for the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Assistance (CMS). He was member of CMS TEPs focusing on Emergency Department Readmissions Hospital Readmissions, the Fistula First Breakthrough Initiative and recently on the End Stage Renal Disease Dialysis Facility Compare Star Ratings for the Arbor Research Collaborative for Health and the University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center. He is a founding member of the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Health Information Technology (HIT) Project administered by the National Renal Administrators Association and the End Stage Renal Disease Forum and serves on the National Kidney Disease Education Program’s (NKDEP) Health Information Technology (HIT) Working Group.