Joel D. Kopple, MD is Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Public Health at the UCLA Schools of Medicine and Public Health. He was chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center from 1982 to 2007. He has authored/coauthored over 600 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He has edited many proceedings/symposia and is an editor of the book entitled, Nutritional Management of Renal Disease, 4th edition (2022). He founded the International Society of Renal Nutrition and Metabolism (ISRNM), the International Federation of Kidney Foundations, and World Kidney Day, served a central role in founding other professional and research programs, and served as president of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, ISRNM and International Federation of Kidney Foundations.   

He is a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition, American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the NKF. He is recipient of the David M. Hume Award (NKF), the Robert H. Herman Memorial Award (2004) and EV McCollum Award (1997) (American Society for Nutrition), Belding Scribner Award (2006) of the ASN, University of Strasbourg Pasteur Award (1988), the ISRNM Thomas Addis Medal (1996), University of Messina: Malpighi Medal (2000), and Hungarian Society of Nephrology Koranyi Award (2005). He has received honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik (Slovakia), University of Szeged (Hungary),  and University d'Auvergne (France). The NKF Council on Renal Nutrition created the Joel D Kopple Award. The International Federation of Kidney Foundations also created a Joel D. Kopple Award.