Medicine Grand Rounds- 2023 Blythe Lecture Speaker: Dr. Jonathan Himmelfarb presents: “Kidney Precision Medicine”

I have been an independently funded NIH investigator for over 30 years, with a consistent focus on conducting clinical and translational research targeting the major complications of kidney disease, a public health problem affecting 850 million people worldwide, 37 million US adults, and is the 10th leading cause of death in the US. In 2008 I became the inaugural Director of the Kidney Research Institute (KRI), Professor of Medicine, and holder of the Joseph W. Eschbach M.D. Endowed Chair in Kidney Research at the University of Washington. The KRI was established with the mission to conduct research that can improve the lives of people living with kidney disease. Under my leadership, the KRI has catalyzed kidney-disease related research across the entire University of Washington and nationwide, obtaining over $200 million in aggregate extra-mural funding, enrolling over 8000 participants in the registry and/or clinical studies of kidney diseases, and generating over 1500 peer-reviewed research publications. The KRI has pioneered patient engagement efforts with the establishment of the Patient Advisory Committee, in addition to an external Scientific Advisory Committee. I have continued with my own research including the development of a “kidney-on-a-chip” microphysiological system and leading the Central Hub and Chairing the Steering Committee for the Kidney Precision Medicine Project, a top priority for the NIH/NIDDK. I have been conducting collaborative clinical research throughout my career, and have participated as PI, Co-I, DSMB or EAC member of multiple NIH-sponsored cohort studies and clinical trials, including PICARD, DAC, HFMC, HDNT, ASSESS-AKI, Re-Building a Kidney, Novel Biomarkers of Fibrosis, ISCHEMIA-CKD, the Kidney Precision Medicine Project, and the NCATS Organs on Chips consortium. Up until recently, I served as the Co-Principal Investigator for the UW Division of Nephrology T32 training grant.
In 2016, I also co-founded and became co-Director of the UW Center for Dialysis Innovation (CDI). The CDI is currently developing and testing a series of novel and innovative technologies for dialysis, and aligning these technologies with what matters most to patients, culminating with a robustly and compactly designed portable and/or wearable dialysis system. CDI’s unique, patient-oriented approach has been supported by the work of a Human Factors team, to make sure our technology truly addresses the needs of the end user – the patient. The CDI has won multiple KidneyX prizes including in the artificial kidney and patient innovator competitions. The CDI-sponsored annual IDEAS conference has become the global centerpiece event for dialysis innovators, stakeholders, and patients to come together and share their work toward transforming dialysis.
I have served on numerous study sections and grant review committees, and scientific advisory boards and have held leadership positions in many national and international nephrology societies. I have been a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine Subspecialty Board on Nephrology, a Councilor of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and was President of the ASN in 2014-2015. I led efforts within ASN to create a roadmap for Diversity and Inclusion and was the inaugural co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. I have served on expert panels for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Veterans Health Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other organizations. I have served on numerous editorial boards and am the author of more than 350 peer-reviewed publications. In addition, I have sponsored/mentored over 40 post-docs, nephrology fellows and graduate students, the majority of whom have gone on to successful academic careers. I have received a number of awards over my career; and in 2021, the American Society of Nephrology conferred the Belding H. Scribner lifetime achievement award for ‘outstanding contributions that directly impact the care of patients with kidney diseases or have substantially changed the clinical practice of Nephrology’.