Harini A. Chakkera, M.D., M.P.H.

Harini Chakkera, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., is Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Chair of the Division of Nephrology, and a transplant nephrologist at Mayo Clinic. She previously served as Medical Director of the Pancreas Transplant Program and was the founding program director for both the General Nephrology Fellowship and Transplant Nephrology Fellowship programs. She also served as Chair of the Student Promotion and Assessment Committee at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Arizona.

In education, Dr. Chakkera has made substantial contributions to the development of medical students, residents and fellows. She transformed the internal medicine resident rotation in nephrology, was instrumental in establishing the General Nephrology and Transplant Nephrology fellowships, and served as the founding leader of the renal block at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Arizona. She has mentored numerous residents and fellows and served as Director of Medical Education Quality and Strategy at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. In 2021, she received the Distinguished Educator of the Year Award, Mayo Clinic Arizona, in recognition of her contributions to the Education Shield.

Her clinical expertise encompasses kidney and pancreas transplantation, including determining eligibility for transplantation, evaluating living kidney donors, and providing complex longitudinal care for patients before and after transplantation. Central to her clinical approach is helping patients understand their disease and empowering them to become active partners in managing their health.

In 2024, Dr. Chakkera received the Distinguished Clinician of the Year Award, Mayo Clinic Arizona, an honor selected by her peers in recognition of outstanding clinical expertise, compassionate patient care, and sustained excellence in leadership, innovation and advancement of clinical practice. She has also received recognition from America’s Top Physicians — Consumers’ Research Council of America and Marquis Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare in America.

Dr. Chakkera is recognized nationally and internationally for her expertise in metabolic disease and diabetes associated with transplantation. Her research has been supported by industry, intramural and National Institutes of Health funding. She has authored expert content and published in high-impact scientific journals, with research contributing to the understanding of the mechanisms and consequences of metabolic disease following transplantation. She has been invited to present her work at national and international forums. Her scholarly interests extend beyond transplantation to global behavioral and public health. Dr. Chakkera served as Principal Investigator of the multidisciplinary U.S.-India collaborative project, Ethnocentric Perceptions, Impacts and Influences of Problematic Alcohol Use in a Global Community Sample: A Mixed Methods Study. Conducted from 2023 — 2026, the initiative brings together collaborators in India and the United States, including Mayo Clinic and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, to examine ethnocentric perceptions, influences and impacts related to problematic alcohol use in a global community sample.

Dr. Chakkera has further expanded her international academic engagement as Visiting Professor in the Department of Nephrology at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India. She also served as Distinguished Honorary Chief Guest at the 51st Annual National Conference of the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine, hosted by Kasturba Medical College in Mangalore, India.

Her leadership extends to health care governance and professional service. Dr. Chakkera has served on the Mercy Care Governance Committee since 2020, contributing her expertise to health care governance and community-focused initiatives. She is an active member and Fellow of both the American Society of Nephrology and the American Society of Transplantation and has served on several professional committees, including as a member of the Transplant Nephrology Fellowship Training Accreditation Board of Managers. In 2026, she was selected to serve a two-year term as Secretary of the Society of Transplant Nephrology.

Dr. Chakkera has distinguished herself across Mayo Clinic’s three shields of clinical practice, education and research, with a career encompassing compassionate patient care, medical education, academic leadership and program development. She earned her Master of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in September 2026, complementing her medical and public health training with formal education in business, management and organizational leadership. Across her clinical, educational, research and leadership roles, Dr. Chakkera’s work reflects a commitment to advancing transplantation and nephrology, workforce development and sustainability, developing the next generation of physicians, strengthening health care delivery, and improving the health of patients and communities.