Carolyn Abitbol, M.D.
Dr. Carolyn Abitbol is the Division Chief, Pediatric Nephrology, and a seasoned clinician, research scientist and mentor with an academic career that has spanned 3 decades. Her research has focused on the challenges of preterm birth and the long-term consequences of prematurity related to cardiovascular and renal disease throughout life. Since fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco and as a Fulbright-Hays scholar in Paris, she worked with the young rat model of chronic experimental uremia. This renal ablation model is synonymous with “low nephron mass” in children. In humans, the full complement of nephrons is formed in utero by 36 weeks’ gestation. Our central hypothesis has been that preterm infants, who are born during active nephrogenesis, never achieve a full complement of nephrons due to an adverse extra-uterine environment. In a seminal study of the renal histomorphometry of 56 extremely preterm infants with and without renal failure in 2004 with Dr. Maria Rodriguez and others at the University of Miami/ Holtz Children’s, we provided evidence that preterm birth was an independent risk factor for low nephron mass. Subsequently, clinical follow-up of surviving preterm infants has been consistent with the developmental origins hypothesis with implications for lifelong cardiovascular and renal disease including hypertension, proteinuria and chronic kidney disease. As the recipient of the Gerber Foundation award in 2010 and the Micah Batchelor Award for Excellence in Pediatric Research in 2016, our research efforts have expanded and flourished. Our recent publications and collaborations indicate that we have the patient numbers and the ability to enroll and follow a large cohort of infants at our center. As 1 of 24 centers in the Neonatal Kidney Collaborative (NKC), we enrolled the greatest number of infants in the Assessment of Worldwide Acute Kidney Injury Epidemiology in Neonates (AWAKEN), a retrospective analysis to determine the incidence of AKI in neonates. Most recently, the Acute Renal Injury Sequelae in NICU Graduates ARISING (1U34DK117128-01A1), a prospective collaborative study through the Neonatal Kidney Collaborative (NKC) has been funded and Dr. Abitbol is the center PI. We are also actively enrolling into the DUPLEX Trial: A Randomized, Multicenter, Double-blind, Parallel, Active-control Study of the Effects of Sparsentan, a Dual Endothelin Receptor and Angiotensin Receptor Blocker, on Renal Outcomes in Patients with Primary Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).
Dr. Abitbol's Bibliography
Jayanthi J. Chandar, M.D.
Dr. Jayanthi Chandar is the Director of Pediatric Renal Transplantation and is a seasoned pediatric nephrologist devoted to the successful transplantation and longevity of children with end stage renal disease. Her research interests are centered around the safe and effective immune modulation of children both pre and post transplantation. A primary component of successful patient and graft survival is the maintenance of health literacy and medication adherence in patients and their parents. Dr. Chandar is nationally recognized for the development of psychological and behavioral instruments to maintain adherence that impacts graft survival.
Dr. Chandar's Bibliography
Marissa DeFreitas, M.D.
Dr. Marissa DeFreitas is an early career academic pediatric nephrologist with a research interest in the field of fetal programming of adult disease, specifically as it relates to the long-term cardiovascular and renal risks of preterm birth. As a fellow, she led efforts to recruit and longitudinally follow 54 mothers and infants in a sub-study of the Gerber Infant Kidney Study at our center. The goal was to investigate umbilical cord histomorphometry and urine biomarkers across gestational age groups. This resulted in an important publication entitled “Umbilical artery histomorphometry: a link between the intrauterine environment and kidney development” (J Dev Orig Health Dis (2017), 8(3):349-356). This launched further collaborations and project designs. She was the 2019 recipient of the Batchelor Scholars Award to study the “Developmental Changes in Kidney Progenitor Cell Profiles among Preterm Infants”. Dr. DeFreitas is an active member of the Neonatal Kidney Collaborative (NKC) and a primary author on an ancillary project to study Maternal Hypertension Disorders and the Risk of Neonatal Acute Kidney Injury: Results from the AWAKEN Study”. Other clinical and research collaborations include participation with the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children Study (CKiD) and the North American Pediatric Renal Trials and Collaborative Studies (NAPRTCS). Similarly, she has maintained collaborations with the Pediatric Nephrology Research Consortium (PNRC) which was previously the Midwestern Pediatric Nephrology Consortium (MWPNC).
Dr. DeFreitas' Bibliography
Chryso Katsoufis, M.D.
Dr. Chryso Katsoufis is the Medical Director of Pediatric Dialysis and a nationally recognized expert in post-graduate medical residency training. She has focused her clinical research in the early diagnosis and management of infants and children with Congenital Anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (CAKUT). Defining neonatal markers of kidney dysfunction may provide prognostic indices for progression to end stage kidney disease as a tool to develop early therapeutic paradigms. This has been important in determining the management and outcomes of fetal surgical interventions for lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO) diagnosed in utero. Dr. Katsoufis has collaborated with the Divisions of Neonatology and Infectious Disease in determining the impact of maternal ZIKA virus infection on fetal renal development. Other clinical and research collaborations include participation with the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children Study (CKiD) and the Hectoral Study. Similarly, she has maintained collaborations with the Pediatric Nephrology Research Consortium (PNRC) which was previously the Midwestern Pediatric Nephrology Consortium (MWPNC)
Dr. Katsoufis' Bibliography
Shathiyah Kulandavelu, M.D.
Shathiyah Kulandavelu, PhD is a distinguished translational clinical research scientist that has joined the Division of Pediatric Nephrology and maintains close affiliations with the Stem Cell Institute and the Divisions of Neonatology and Maternal and Fetal Medicine. Her primary research interests are related to placental function and preeclampsia. She is in close collaboration with our multiple projects in developmental origins of health and disease (DOHAD). Dr. Kulandavelu has extramural support from the American Heart Association (AHA) and internal support from the Stem Cell Institute.
Wacharee Seeherunvong, M.D.
Dr. Wacharee Seeherunvong is the Associate Program Director for the Fellowship Program and an authority on metabolic bone disease, childhood hypertension and the early development of cardiorenal disease in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Her research has focused on hypertension and the field of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) and klotho as it relates to metabolic bone disease and longevity in CKD. She has been a major contributor to international studies including Cure Glomerulonephropathy (CureGN) and North American Pediatric Renal Trials and Collaborative Studies (NAPRTCS) and a research collaboration with the Pediatric Nephrology Research Consortium (PNRC). She is currently the principal investigator for the EPPIK Trial, Sparsentan Treatment in Pediatrics with Proteinuric Glomerular Diseases including Minimal Change Disease, Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis, IgA Nephropathy/ IgA Vasculitis (Henoch Schoenlein purpura) and Alport Syndrome, which we are enrolling children with glomerular disease as active participants for the study.
Dr. Seeherunvong's Bibliography
