Leah Foster Smith MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, CNN-NP, FNKF, FANNA, FAANP

Leah Foster Smith received her BSN and MSN-FNP from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1996 and 2001, respectively. She joined Metrolina Nephrology Associates, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2001 as an ANCC Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner.

Leah was promoted to director of advanced practice providers in 2007 and now supervises the largest group of nephrology APPs in the United States with a current total of 42 Nephrology APPs. She became a Certified Nephrology Nurse Practitioner (CNN-NP) as the highest exam scorer in the United States in 2017, as well as a Fellow of the NKF.

Leah is an APP practice clinical consultant with Clear Edge Medical Management assisting multiple nephrology practices in the utilization of nephrology APs. She is also the creator and chair of a formalized CKD program managing over 24,000 CKD patients. Leah is the chief education officer for Interactive Nephrology and creator of a formalized new nephrology APP training program entitled Ready for Rounds, training more than 111 APPs from across the United States since its launch in June 2020.