Nephrology News & Conferences

November 2022

• November 9th - Community Health Authentic Talk (CHAT): Ensuring a Community Voice in Kidney Research. A virtual session for community members to share their thoughts about kidney disease and its impact on families and the community. Event Flier

October 2022

• October 29th - Reproductive Health for Women with Kidney Disease Forum at the Wilf Family Center in the Masonic Children's Hospital Event Flyer

September 2022

• Patrick Nachman, MD, Paul Drawz, MD, and Sami Safadi, MD were awarded $2.5M in NIH funding as a Recruitment Site for the Kidney Precision Medicine Project.
• September 30th - Nephrology Division Retreat & Social at the Graduate Hotel.

August 2022

• Congratulations to Mirna Boumitri, MD, Sarah Elfering, MD, and Patrick Nachman, MD and our pediatric nephrology colleagues Scott McEwen, MD, PhD, and Michelle Rheault, MD for being honored as 2022 Top Doctors by Minnesota Monthly! This year, 257 doctors representing 70 specialties from across M Health Fairview were named to Minnesota Monthly’s ‘Top Doctors’ list, more than any other health system statewide.
• Peter Thorne, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Nephrologist joins the division. His research & clinical interests include: Chronic Kidney Disease, Hypertension, Medical Education Tools, and Quality Improvement.
• Aaron Galinson, RN joined the division as Nephrology RN Care Coordinator

July 2022

• 1st year Nephrology Fellows Mohamed Kassim, Angie Lobo, and Sean Pickthorn join the division.
• New Publication: Amit Kaushal, MBBS, Nattawat Klomjit, MD, et al. Lessons for the clinical nephrologist: lenalidomide-induced Fanconi syndrome in a patient with multiple myeloma post stem cell transplantation. Journal of Nephrology.

June 2022

• Kaushik Bhunia, MD graduates for the Transplant Nephrology Fellowship.
• Kate Hellie, MD and Salman Mahmood, MD graduate from the Nephrology Fellowship.

May 2022

• Sahar Koubar, MBBS, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Nephrologist joins the division. Her research & clinical interests include: Glomerular Diseases, Monoclonal Gammopathy of Renal Significance (MGRS), Conservative Kidney Management, and Pregnancy-related Kidney Diseases.

March 2022

• Brittney Barney, RN, BSN joined the division as Nephrology RN Care Coordinator.

February 2022

• Sabine Karam, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Nephrologist joins the division. Her research & clinical interests include: Onco-Nephrology, Monoclonal Gammopathy of Renal Significance (MGRS), Hypertension, and Home Dialysis.

December 2021

• Becky Forrest, RN, BAN joined the division as Nephrology RN Care Coordinator.

October 2021

• The Minnesota Multidisciplinary Vasculitis Program (M2VP) enrolls the 200th adult patient and 1st pediatric patient into the registry!!

• New Publication: Nattawat Klomjit, MD, et al. COVID-19 vaccination and glomerulonephritis. Kidney International Reports.

September 2021

• Friday, September 24th - Nephrology Division Retreat & Social at the Campus Club.

• Transplant Nephrology fellow Muhammad Aljuhani, MD graduates.

• New Publication: Nattawat Klomjit, MD, et al. Impaired immunomodulatory capacity in adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells isolated from obese patients. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. 

August 2021

• Deepthi Malepati, MBBS, Assistant Professor of Medicine joins the division. Her research & clinical interests include hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and glomerulonephritis.

• Sami Safadi, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Nephrologist joins the division. His research & clinical interests include critical care nephrology and point of care ultrasound.

• Kurtis Swason, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Transplant Nephrologist joins the division. His research & clinical interests include kidney transplant & pancreas transplant outcomes.

• New Publication: Mirna Boumitri, MD, Nayanjot Rai, and Paul Drawz, MD. Genetic Risk Scores and Blood Pressure - The Heart is What Matters. Kidney360.

• New Publication: Samy Riad, MD, Richard Spong, MD, et al. Glomerular galactose-deficient IgA1 detected in donor-derived and recurrent IgA nephropathy. Transplant International. 

• New Publication: Nattawat Klomjit, MD, et al. Diffuse C4d staining of peritubular capillaries in renal allograft following bamlanivimab therapy. American Journal of Transplantation.

July 2021

• Announced 2021 Top Doctors by Minnesota Monthly Magazine: Mirna Boumitri, MD, Patrick Nachman, MD, and Samy Riad, MD

• Nattawat Klomjit, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine joins the division. His research & clinical interests include monoclonal gammopathy, onconephrology, glomerulonephritis, and peritoneal dialysis.

• Dan Murphy, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Medicine joins the division. His research & clinical interests include acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease.
• Nephrology fellows Arsalan Alvi (1st year), Amit Kaushal (1st year), and Alex Dayton (PSTP) join the division.
• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al. Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Identification of Patients With CKD Using Electronic Health Records. Am J Kidney Disease.
• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al. Does experience matter? The relationship between nephrologist characteristics and end stage kidney disease patient outcomesPaul Drawz, MD. Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Kidney Transplant Recipients: More Questions than Answers. American Journal of Nephrology.

June 2021

• Announced 2021 Top Doctors by Mpls.St. Paul Magazine: Sarah Elfering, MD, Joseph Lee, DO, and Katti Woerner, DO.
• Kaushik Bhunia, MD graduates for the Nephrology Fellowship.
• Prasanth Ravipati, MD graduates from the Glomerular Disease and Vasculitis Fellowship.
• Dan Murphy, MD, MSgraduates from the Physician Scientist Training Program (PSTP) Fellowship.
• Joy Bolea, RN, MS joins the division as Clinical Research Coordinator.
• Sarah Elfering, MD recipient of the 2021 Dr. Manske Award for Educational Excellence. Awarded annually by Nephrology fellows. 
• New Publication:Adam Bregman, MD, Samy Riad, MD, et al. Kidney Transplant Survival After Borderline Rejection in the Setting of deNovo DSA Formation. Am J Transplant. 
• New Publication: Samy Riad, MD, et al. Outcomes of Kidney Allograft and Recipient Survival after Liver Transplantation by Induction Type in the United States. Liver Transplantation.
• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al. The association between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and chronic kidney disease using electronic health record data in urban Minnesota. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.

May 2021

• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al. The Association of Orthostatic Hypotension With Ambulatory Blood Pressure Phenotypes in SPRINT. American Journal of Hypertension. 
• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al. Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status, Health Insurance, and CKD Prevalence: Findings From a Large Health Care System. Kidney Medicine.
• Kayla Engen, RN, BSN joined the division as RN Care Coordinator.

April 2021

• Wednesday, April 28th - Conference hosted by the Med-Peds Nephrology and Rheumatology with guest speaker Dr. Sharon Chung, MD, MAS.
• 3:30 pm CWIMS Reception and Career Talk - Register Here
• 5:00 pm Rheumatology Citywide Research Conference, Presentation Title: ANCA-associated vasculitis: Looking back and leaping forward - Zoom Meeting
• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al. Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Quality of Kidney Care: Data From Electronic Health Records. Kidney Medicine. 
• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al. Medical records-based chronic kidney disease phenotype for clinical care and "big data" observational and genetic studies. NPJ Digital Medicine. 
• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al. Podocyte density is reduced in kidney allografts with high-risk APOL1 genotypes at transplantation. Clinical Transplantation.
• New Publication: Rasha El-Rifai, MD, et al. Podocyte density is reduced in kidney allografts with high-risk APOL1 genotypes at transplantation. Clinical Transplantation.

March 2021

• New Publication: Samy Riad, MD, et al. Kidney Allograft and Recipient Survival After Heart Transplantation by Induction Type in the United States. Transplantation.
• New Publication: Patrick Nachman, MD, et al. Innovating and invigorating the clinical trial infrastructure for glomerular diseases. Kidney International.

February 2021

• Received the Distinguished Women in Medicine and Science Visiting Scholar Award from Center for Women in Medicine and Science (CWIMS) for guest speaker Sharon Chung, MD, virtual visit to the University of Minnesota in April 2021.
• New Publication: Peter Igarashi, MD, et al. Advancing Nephrology: Division Leaders Advise ASN. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
• New Publication:Katti Woerner, DO, et al. Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin-induced renal toxicity in retroperitoneal liposarcoma: a case report and literature review. Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology. 
• New Publication: Patrick Nachman, MD, et al. Advances in ANCA-associated vasculitis and lupus nephritis. Nature Reviews Nephrology.

January 2021

• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al. Mobile Health Intervention to Close the Guidelines-To-Practice Gap in Hypertension Treatment: Protocol for the mGlide Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Research Protocols.

December 2020

• New Publication: Samy Riad, MD, et al. Primary pediatric deceased-donor kidney transplant recipients outcomes by immunosuppression induction received in the United States. Pediatric Transplantation.

• New Publication: Samy Riad, MD, et al. Primary pediatric live-donor-kidney transplant recipients outcomes by immunosuppression induction received in the United States. Pediatric Transplantation.

• Michelle Lhotka, PA-C joins the division as an Advanced Practice Provider (APP) for general nephrology.

• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al.  Concordance Between Blood Pressure in the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial and in Routine Clinical Practice. JAMA Internal Medicine.

• New Publication: Siu Chiu Chan, PhD, Peter Igarashi, MD, et al. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 1β suppresses canonical Wnt signaling through transcriptional repression of lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1. The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

November 2020

• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al. Acute Kidney Injury following Enhanced Recovery after Surgery in Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy. Journal of Urology.

October 2020

• Nayanjot Rai, MPH, BDS, joins the division as Program Manager/Research Professional to support Paul Drawz, MD research efforts.

September 2020

• Transplant Nephrology fellow Muhammad Aljuhani, MD joins the division.
• Transplant Nephrology fellow Abrar Khan, MD graduates.
• New Publication: Patrick Nachman, MD, et al. Rituximab as therapy to induce remission after relapse in ANCA-associated vasculitis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
• Katie Stechmann, RN, BSN joined the division as RN Care Coordinator.
• New Publication: Dan Murphy, MD,Samy Riad, MD, et al. A quarter pound of acetaminophen with propylene glycol on the side: A case report. Clinical Nephrology Case Studies

August 2020

• New Publication: Milind Junghare, MD, et al. Galactose-Deficient IgA1 Deposits in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma-Related Henoch-Schönlein Purpura Nephritis. Case Reports in Nephrology.

July 2020

• New Glomerular Diseases and Vasculitis Fellowship Program begins with fellow Prasanth Ravipati, MD under the supervision of Program Director Patrick Nachman, MD. This fellowship offers specialized training in autoimmune diseases affecting the kidney and other forms of glomerular diseases.
• Nephrology fellows Kate Hellie (1st year), Salman Mahmood (1st year), and Deepthi Malepati (2nd year) join the division.
• New Publication: Siu Chiu Chan, PhD and Peter Igarashi, MD, et al. Role of transcription factor hepatocyte nuclear factor-1β in polycystic kidney disease. Cell Signal.
• New Publication: Patrick Nachman, MD, et al. Longitudinal Changes in Health-Related Quality of Life in Primary Glomerular Disease: Results From the CureGN Study. Kidney International Reports.

June 2020

• Rasha El-Rifai, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Transplant Nephrologist joins the division. Research interests include: recurrent glomerulonephritis post transplant and APO-L1 in kidney transplant.
• Adam Bregman, MD, MBA, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Transplant Nephrologist joins the division. Research interests include: Donor specific antibody formation and evolution and Kidney transplant outcomes.
• Fellows Dan Murphy, MD and Prasanth Ravipati, MD graduate from the Nephrology fellowship.
• Milind Junghare, MD recipient of the 2020 Dr. Manske Award for Educational Excellence. Awarded annually by Nephrology fellows.

May 2020

• New Publication: Patrick Nachman, MD, et al. Assessing the Impact of Losmapimod on Proteinuria in Idiopathic Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis. Kidney International Reports.

April 2020

• Mark Rosenberg, MD received the 2020 President’s Award for Outstanding Service.

• New Publication: Samy Riad, MD, et al. Enteric Conversion of Bladder-drained Pancreas as a Predictor of Outcomes in Almost 600 Recipients at a Single Center. Transplant Direct.

• New Publication: Karam Aboudehen, PhD, Regulation of mTOR signaling by long non-coding RNA. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. Gene Regulatory Mechanisms.

• New Publication: Peter Igarashi, MD and Karam Aboudehen, PhD, et al. Interstitial microRNA miR-214 attenuates inflammation and polycystic kidney disease progression. JCI Insight.

• New Publication: Lama Ghazi, PhD and Paul Drawz, MD, et al. Association of 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Patterns with Cognitive Function and Physical Functioning in CKD. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

• Sara Schwie, RN, BSN joined the division as RN Care Coordinator.

March 2020

• March 4th at 6:00 pm Med-Peds Nephrology Grand Rounds with guest speaker Dr. Laura Mariani from the University of Michigan. Dr. Mariani received the Distinguished Women in Medicine and Science Visiting Scholar Award from Center for Women in Medicine and Science (CWIMS).

• New Publication: Paul Drawz, MD, et al. Blood Pressure Measurement: A KDOQI Perspective. American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

• New Publication: Patrick Nachman, MD, et al. Persistent Disease Activity in Patients With Long-Standing Glomerular Disease. Kidney International Reports.

• New Publication: Patrick Nachman, MD, et al. Serum Albumin at Partial Remission Predicts Outcomes in Membranous Nephropathy. Kidney International Reports.

February 2020

• Mirna Boumitri, MD was announced the new Clinical Director for the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension.

• Siu Chiu Chan, PhD joins the division. Dr. Chan’s research focus is to understand the molecular mechanisms regulated by the kidney master transcription factor, HNF1B, during disease development.

• New Publication: Samy Riad, MD, et al. Induction type and outcomes for kidney graft and patient survival in recipients with prior lung transplantation in the United States. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.

January 2020

• 2020 Top Doctors: Sarah Elfering, MD, Scott Reule, MD, and Katti Woerner, MD were honored as “2020 Top Doctors: Rising Stars” by Mpls.St. Paul Magazine. They have been recognized for significant achievements in the first decade of their profession.

• New Clinic: The Genetic Kidney Disease Clinic opens at M Health Fairview Discovery Specialty Clinic with Nephrologists: Sarah Elfering, MD, Cliff Kashtan, MD, Patrick Nachman, MD, Michelle Rheault MD, Yoav Segal, MD, PhD, and Ladan Zand, MD.

• New Publication: Peter Igarashi, MD, et al. Innate Immune Signaling Contributes to Tubular Cell Senescence in the Glis2 Knockout Mouse Model of Nephronophthisis. American Journal of Pathology.

• New Publication: Patrick Nachman, MD, et al. Neutralizing Anti-Rituximab Antibodies and Relapse in Membranous Nephropathy Treated With Rituximab. Frontiers in Immunology.

• New Publication: Lama Ghazi, PhD and Paul Drawz, MD, et al. Role of Inflammatory Biomarkers in the Prevalence and Incidence of Hypertension Among HIV-Positive Participants in the START Trial. American Journal of Hypertension.