Research Opportunities

Comprehensive Training in Research

Fellows have the opportunity to work with faculty across the University of Pittsburgh, including mentors in the Division of Pediatric Nephrology, the Renal-Electrolyte Division (Adult Nephrology), the associated NIH O’Brien Center dedicated to foster collaborations in renal research, the Center for Critical Care Nephrology and the Starzl Transplantation Institute, among others. Fellows choose a research mentor in consultation with the fellowship program director.

Outstanding Opportunities for Research

The Pediatric Nephrology program at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh was one of a handful in the country to qualify for a prestigious T32 grant from NIH, which helps fund the cost of research fellows. The Division of Pediatric Nephrology faculty includes 5 research MDs and 2 research PhDs, most of whom have received NIH funding. The University of Pittsburgh has 30+ faculty mentors available with NIH-funded programs in nephrology research that span the breadth of clinical, translational, and basic research. The University is one of the top 5 centers in the US for NIDDK funding that supports kidney, endocrine, and gastroenterology research.

Faculty Research Interests

Melissa Anslow, MD

  • Molecular mechanisms underlying vesicoureteral reflux.
  • Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract.

Dana Fuhrman, MD 

  • Methods to predict and prevent kidney disease in young adults with congenital heart disease.
  • Acute kidney injury and the use of acute renal replacement therapy..

Cassandra Formeck, MD

  • Understanding the effects of acute kidney injury on the immune system.
  • Risk factors for and long-term impact of acute kidney injury.
  • Divisional lead for Pediatric  Nephrology Research Consortium

Jacqueline Ho, MD 

  • MicroRNA-mediated regulation of nephron number and pattern in kidney development and disease.
  • Genetic/structural causes of kidney disease in childhood.

Juhi Kumar, MD, MPH

  • Validating Injury to the Renal Transplant Using Urinary Signatures in Children (VIRTUUS Children's Study)
  • Site lead for Advancing Transplantation Outcomes in Children
  • DIvisional lead for Improving Renal Outcomes Collaborative and North American Pediatric Renal Trials and Collaborative Studies. 

Michael Moritz, MD

  • Epidemiology, evaluation and treatment of dysnatremias in children and adults.
  • The utility of 0.9% sodium chloride in maintenance fluids in hospitalized children as prophylaxis against developing hospital acquired hyponatremia and use of 3% sodium chloride boluses for the treatment of hyponatremic encephalopathy.

Aidan Porter, MD

  • The the role of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-mediated protein homeostasis in the pathogenesis of acute kidney injury (AKI).
  • Studies how loss of a molecular chaperone, glucose regulated protein 170 (GRP-170), in the mouse kidney nephron causes ER stress and dysregulation of the unfolded protein response (UPR)  leading to AKI and pharmaceuticals may ameliorate these deleterious effects.