I am a practicing nephrologist and biomedical engineer. I took leave from my undergraduate studies to work as a 911 paramedic for half a dozen years before earning my degrees and pursuing a medical degree at Case Western. As an EMT and then paramedic, I developed a love for patients who depend on dialysis and resolved to invent treatments that address the fundamental drivers of death and disability in end-stage kidney disease.   I was lucky to forge a connection between my undergraduate astrophysics research and technology development for renal failure.  I was luckier yet to forge a quarter-century collaboration with coauthor Shuvo Roy, a visionary biomedical engineer who has tirelessly pushed the project since we met.