About the Authors

Lynda A. Szczech

Kidneyfan@gmail.com

Affiliation Durham Nephrology Associates, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America

Rebecca C. Stewart

Affiliation Scientific Activities Department, The National Kidney Foundation, Inc., New York, New York, United States of America

Hsu-Lin Su

Affiliation Covance Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America

Richard J. DeLoskey

Affiliation Covance Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America

Brad C. Astor

Affiliation Departments of Medicine and Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America

Chester H. Fox

Affiliation Department of Family Medicine, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Peter A. McCullough

Affiliation Baylor Health Care System, Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute, Dallas, Texas, United States of America

Joseph A. Vassalotti

Affiliations Scientific Activities Department, The National Kidney Foundation, Inc., New York, New York, United States of America, Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America

Competing Interests

The study was financially sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co., but the National Kidney Foundation was responsible for the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review and approval of the manuscript. Richard J. Deloskey and Hsu-Lin Su are employed by Covance Inc. Compensation at Covance is not dependent on the results of the study presented in the manuscript. Lynda A. Szczech is a nephrologist employed by Durham Nephrology Associates. Her compensation is not dependent on the results of the study presented in the manuscript. These interests do not alter the authors' adherence to all PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: LS RS BA CF PM JV. Performed the experiments: LS RS HLS RJD BA CF PM JV. Analyzed the data: LS RS HLS RJD BA CF PM JV. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: LS RS BA CF PM JV. Wrote the paper: LS RS HLS RJD BA CF PM JV.