Nephrology

About Us

The Division of Nephrology’s faculty consists of seven pediatric nephrologists, two PhD investigators and one advanced practice provider. Drs. Michael Moritz, Melissa Anslow, Cassandra Formeck, and Juhi Kumar are focused primarily on clinical activities. Drs. Jacqueline Ho, Dana Fuhrman, and Aidan Porter are focused on research, including basic, translational and patient-oriented discovery. Drs. Sunder Sims-Lucas, PhD, and Rannar Airik, PhD, are engaged in basic science research.  Emily Horosko is our APP and sees children with kidney problems in the outpatient setting. Six faculty are supported by NIH funding. The division is also engaged in collaborative research and QI initiatives with other institutions. The group also co-hosts educational and research symposia with other Departments at the University of Pittsburgh.

The division has robust external funding for research, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and has one of only five NIH T32 training grants which provides funding for the Pediatric Nephrology fellowship program. The division also has active research projects in association with the Midwest Pediatric Nephrology Consortium and is a member of the national Improving Renal Outcomes Collaborative, an organization devoted to eliminating the survival disparity between children with kidney diseases and the general population.

The Division of Nephrology is a participant in the national Nephrotoxic Injury Negated by Just-in-time Action (NINJA) program, a quality improvement program that reduces nephrotoxic medication-associated acute kidney injury.  Our division co-hosts the annual Nephrotic Syndrome Symposia and Acute Kidney Injury Symposia along with other University of Pittsburgh and UPMC nephrologists that feature speakers and participants from across the world.  The division also participates in the NIH funded CureGN program.

Mission

The mission of the of the Division of Nephrology is to: 

• Care for children with renal and urinary tract disorders, directly and/or in consultation with other physicians 
• Provide high-quality care, using the highest moral, ethical, and professional conduct 
• Promote knowledge of renal topics to primary physicians, residents, medical students, advanced practice providers, and nurses through direct teaching and mentoring 
• Extend knowledge of pathophysiology of renal disease through basic, clinical, and translational research 
• Train pediatric nephrology fellows to become outstanding clinical nephrologists and to have the fellows engage in high-quality kidney and urinary tract–based research projects