Dr. Keith C. Norris is an internationally recognized clinician scientist and health policy leader who has been instrumental in shaping national health policy and clinical practice guidelines for chronic kidney disease (CKD). A board certified nephrologist, in 1995, he was invited to join the inaugural National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative, and was a founding member of the subsequent Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) continuous Performance Measures workgroup. He presently serves as a member of the Forum of ESRD Networks, Medical Advisory Board. He also co-directs the Center for Kidney Disease Research, Education and Hope (CURE-CKD), a Providence St. Joseph Health/UCLA partnership using electronic health record data to examine outcomes and quality of care for over 2.7 million patients with CKD and/or at risk for CKD (hypertension, diabetes, pre- diabetes).

He has made major contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion while addressing disparities in contemporary society. For nearly 30 years he has worked to enhance community-academic partnerships and promote community partnered research. He was the Principal Investigator for the multi-site NIH-NIDDK funded African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK) and the AASK Cohort Study, the largest comparative drug intervention trial focusing on renal outcomes conducted in African Americans. Dr. Norris was the founding Principal Investigator for the first national translational research network dedicated to reducing health disparities, the NIH-Research Centers in Minority Institutions Translational Research Network. He has extensive experience in patient recruitment and retention, and community-partnered research within the South Los Angeles community. He directs several NIH research and training grants including the NIH Diversity Program Consortium Coordination and Evaluation Center at UCLA, the centerpiece of the largest NIH initiative to enhance diversity in the biomedical workforce.