Kidney Failure & Renal Care

Kumar Sharma is the Director of Translational Research in Kidney Disease and a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Sharma is a leading translational researcher whose major area of interest is diabetic complications and kidney disease. His studies have identified several key mediators of early and progressive kidney disease associated with diabetes and obesity. His landmark studies demonstrating the role of the growth factor, TGF-b, have led to the development of clinical applications using approaches to block TGF-b for human diabetic nephropathy. In addition, Dr. Sharma has been involved in his own anti-fibrotic approaches for patients with advanced diabetic nephropathy and recently completed an NIH-funded randomized clinical trial. Most recently, Dr. Sharma’s group has identified a key role for the hormone adiponectin to play a role in early proteinuria associated with obesity. His studies have been published in the JCI, PNAS, JBC, PlOS-Medicine, JCB, AJP-Renal, JASN and Kidney International. Dr. Sharma has recently joined UCSD to lead translational research in kidney disease. He was recently appointed as Chair of the ISN Nexus Symposiums. He has continuous NIH funding since 1996 and presently has several NIH grants, ADA and JDRF support for his research.

Nephrology

Anil Mandal is a native of India and a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology (Kidney disease and hypertension). Sugar diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure in the USA and world wide. This strong association between diabetes and kidney failure has inspired Dr Mandal to develop the frame work of Mandal Diabetes Research foundation to assist diabetic patients to live a good life with medical treatment, and not go to dialysis. Sugar diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure in the USA and world wide. This strong association between diabetes and kidney failure has inspired Dr Mandal to develop the frame work of Mandal Diabetes Research foundation to assist diabetic patients to live a good life with medical treatment, and not go to dialysis.

Pediatrics and nephrology

Grande Joseph has worked as a renal pathologist at the Mayo Clinic for more than 20 years. His PhD work in pathology from the University of Chicago\'s Medical Scientist Training Program focused on the effects of hyperlipidemia and mechanical force on collagen production by aortic smooth muscle cells. After receiving post-doctoral training in pathology at the University of Michigan in 1991, he established an NIH-funded experimental renal research program at Mayo. Dr. Grande\'s research interests have focused on signaling mechanisms leading to chronic renal disease, with emphasis on inflammation, TGF-beta signaling, and a role of phosphodiesterase inhibitors in abrogating this process. He has collaborated with clinical nephrologists in basic, translational, and clinical studies related to a potential role of fish oil in preventing chronic renal disease, IgA nephropathy in particular. He has served as the study pathologist for DeKAF, an NIH-funded study to define histopathologic features of chronic renal allograft dysfunction. For this project, a number of quantitative histopathologic approaches to assess chronic renal disease, inflammation, and innate immune system activation were developed. More recently, his work has focused on critical signaling pathways responsible for chronic renal injury in renovascular hypertension.

Nephrology

Sharma S. Prabhakar is a distinguished nephrologist currently at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, where he is a tenured professor in the Departments of Medicine and Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics, and the Chief of Nephrology Division and Vice Chairman, Department of Medicine. He is an established researcher examining pathophysiologic mechanisms of diabetic nephropathy and of insulin resistance in vitro and animal models.Dr. Prabhakar has over 100 publications including original articles, reviews, book chapters and published abstracts in prestigious journals, such as the American Journal of Physiology, Journal of American Society of Nephrology, and Kidney International. In recognition of his excellence in practice of medicine, Dr. Prabhakar was awarded an endowed chair by the University Medical Center. He is active in several professional societies and organizations and is the current President of American Federation for Medical Research.

Diabetes, ESRD, non-dialysis treatment, kidney disease

Anil Mandal is a native of India and a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology (Kidney disease and hypertension). Sugar diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure in the USA and world wide. This strong association between diabetes and kidney failure has inspired Dr Mandal to develop the frame work of Mandal Diabetes Research foundation to assist diabetic patients to live a good life with medical treatment, and not go to dialysis. Sugar diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure in the USA and world wide. This strong association between diabetes and kidney failure has inspired Dr Mandal to develop the frame work of Mandal Diabetes Research foundation to assist diabetic patients to live a good life with medical treatment, and not go to dialysis.

Nephrology

Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh studied medicine in Germany at the University of Bonn (M.D., 1991). He also received a Master’s degree in Public Health (M.P.H.) and an additional doctorate degree in Epidemiology (Ph.D.) from University of California Berkeley, School of Public Health. Dr. Kalantar’s postgraduate training includes an internship in Medicine/Nephrology in Nuremberg, Germany, residency in Internal Medicine and also in Pediatrics in State University of New York (SUNY) in Brooklyn and Staten Island (SUNY, 1993-97), and a nephrology fellowship at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF, 1997-2000). During 2000-2012 Dr. Kalantar was a faculty at Harbor-UCLA, Professor of Medicine, Pedaitrics and Public Health at UCLA, and medical director of DaVita dialysis clinic in Long Beach, CA. Since mid-2012 he has promoted to the Chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at University of California Irvine (UC Irvine) School of Medicine, in Orange. In addition to serving as Professor of Medicine, Public Health and Pediatrics at UC Irvine, He is also an adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Kalantar-Zadeh is triple board certified in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Nephrology by the American boards of specialties in the USA and has been named by several prestigious top-physician directories in the US including TOP DOCTORS, BEST DOCTORS, and TOP PHYSICIANS. Dr Kalantar is also a standing member of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study section KNOD, Kidney, Nutrition, Obesity and Diabetes). He has had several grants including from the NIH (R01’s, K24 mid-career award, R21’s, R13, etc.), National Kidney Foundation, American Heart Association, etc. His research group is also supported by a generous philanthropic grant from Mr. Harold Simmons, and Dr Kalantar is the director and founder of Harold Simmons Center for Kidney Disease Research & Epidemiology. Prof. Kalantar-Zadeh has published over 300 scientific articles, authored 15 chapters, and presented over 300 abstracts and numerous grand rounds lectures in national and international conferences. He is currently editor of 2 nephrology and nutrition textbooks that will be published in 2013.

Nephrology

Kumar Sharma is the Director of Translational Research in Kidney Disease and a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Sharma is a leading translational researcher whose major area of interest is diabetic complications and kidney disease. His studies have identified several key mediators of early and progressive kidney disease associated with diabetes and obesity. His landmark studies demonstrating the role of the growth factor, TGF-b, have led to the development of clinical applications using approaches to block TGF-b for human diabetic nephropathy. In addition, Dr. Sharma has been involved in his own anti-fibrotic approaches for patients with advanced diabetic nephropathy and recently completed an NIH-funded randomized clinical trial. Most recently, Dr. Sharma’s group has identified a key role for the hormone adiponectin to play a role in early proteinuria associated with obesity. His studies have been published in the JCI, PNAS, JBC, PlOS-Medicine, JCB, AJP-Renal, JASN and Kidney International. Dr. Sharma has recently joined UCSD to lead translational research in kidney disease. He was recently appointed as Chair of the ISN Nexus Symposiums. He has continuous NIH funding since 1996 and presently has several NIH grants, ADA and JDRF support for his research.

Nephrology

Grande Joseph has worked as a renal pathologist at the Mayo Clinic for more than 20 years. His PhD work in pathology from the University of Chicago\'s Medical Scientist Training Program focused on the effects of hyperlipidemia and mechanical force on collagen production by aortic smooth muscle cells. After receiving post-doctoral training in pathology at the University of Michigan in 1991, he established an NIH-funded experimental renal research program at Mayo. Dr. Grande\'s research interests have focused on signaling mechanisms leading to chronic renal disease, with emphasis on inflammation, TGF-beta signaling, and a role of phosphodiesterase inhibitors in abrogating this process. He has collaborated with clinical nephrologists in basic, translational, and clinical studies related to a potential role of fish oil in preventing chronic renal disease, IgA nephropathy in particular. He has served as the study pathologist for DeKAF, an NIH-funded study to define histopathologic features of chronic renal allograft dysfunction. For this project, a number of quantitative histopathologic approaches to assess chronic renal disease, inflammation, and innate immune system activation were developed. More recently, his work has focused on critical signaling pathways responsible for chronic renal injury in renovascular hypertension.

Renal pathology, Understanding of basic mechanisms of fibrogenesis