The American Society of Nephrology presents Department of Medicine Chair Ronald J. Falk, MD, FASN, with the John P. Peters Award this Saturday, November 4, 2017.
(Excerpts republished with permission from ASN Kidney News, October/November 2017 | Vol. 9, Numbers 10 & 11)
The American Society of Nephrology presents the John P. Peters Award for outstanding contributions to improving the lives of patients and to furthering the understanding of the kidney in health and disease. This Saturday the ASN will present Dr. Ronald J. Falk with the John P. Peters Award.
Dr. Falk is an internationally recognized physician-scientist who has devoted more than three decades to the study of autoimmune kidney disease and ANCA vasculitis in an effort to improve the lives of patients afflicted with these conditions. His research has led to a deeper understanding of the causes and conditions that lead to the development of ANCA vasculitis.
In addition to his role as department of medicine chair, he is the chair of Carolina Dialysis, LLC, and chair and co-founder of the Carolina Vascular Access Center. In 2005, he founded and became director of the UNC Kidney Center.
Dr. Falk served as ASN president from 2011 to 2012. He has also served in various other capacities, including on the council, finance committee, education committee, and annual meeting program committee. He has served as chair or a member of several National Institutes of Health study sections and steering committees. He founded the Kidney Health Initiative, a public-private partnership with the ASN and the US Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Falk has served on many editorial boards, including for Kidney International, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Journal of Nephrology, American Journal of Kidney Diseases, and American Family Physician. His research has resulted in more than 230 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and he has contributed to some 140 book chapters and reviews and more than 300 abstracts.
Dr. Falk has received a number of distinguished professorships at UNC and was most recently honored with the Nan and Hugh Cullman Eminent professorship in 2016. He has received numerous other honors and awards, including recognition as one of the “Best Doctors in America” every year since 1982.
Dr. Falk obtained his MD from the UNC School of Medicine. He served as chief of the division of nephrology and hypertension from 1993 through 2015.