Retirement Announcement For Carl Bates

Pitt Pediatrics congratulates and wishes Carl Bates, MD, a very happy retirement! Jacqueline Ho, MD, MSc, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, wrote an entry on behalf of Bates: 

It is with mixed feelings that we announce the retirement of Dr. Carl Bates, Division Director of Pediatric Nephrology, Department of Pediatrics, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, after 14 years of service, for June 30th, 2022. Under his leadership, the Division has experienced significant growth in its mission to provide outstanding clinical care, educate the next generation of leaders in pediatric nephrology, and discover novel mechanisms of pediatric kidney disease.

Dr. Bates received his MD degree at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, completed his residency in Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and then a fellowship in Pediatric Nephrology at the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center. He was recruited to lead the Division of Pediatric Nephrology in 2008. He earned promotion to full Professor and assumed the role of Vice Chair of Basic Research in the Department of Pediatrics in 2016. In recognition of his achievements as a physician-scientist, he was elected to the Society of Pediatric Research in 2004, American Pediatric Society in 2010 and American Society of Clinical Investigation in 2014. He was awarded the Thomas A. Hazinski Distinguished Service Award for the Society of Pediatric Research in 2019 in recognition of his service in promoting the careers of physician-scientists.

Dr. Bates’ discoveries in the development of the kidney and lower urinary tract are internationally renowned. His research program has been focused on the role of fibroblast growth factor receptors in the kidney and lower urinary tract. He has been continuously funded by the NIH for 24 years. His group found that these receptors are critically important in the formation of the kidney and lower urinary tract, and mouse models in which these receptors are mutated mimic many forms of congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract. Recently, his group has shown that administration of FGF7 leads to accelerated and high-fidelity repair of bladder urothelium following injury, representing a potential therapeutic intervention for bladder injury.

In his role as Division Director of Pediatric Nephrology and Vice Chair of Basic Research, he will be remembered for his passion and enthusiasm as a mentor for countless trainees and junior faculty. As he embarks on his retirement, we thank Dr. Bates for all of his contributions to the Department of Pediatrics. You will be missed. THANK YOU.