Ali G. Gharavi, MD
Citation: Kidney News 15, 10/11
Prominent investigator Ali G. Gharavi, MD, will be presented the Homer W. Smith Award on Saturday, November 4. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to understanding how kidneys function in normal and diseased states.
Dr. Ghaveri will speak on “Nephrology Practice and Therapeutics Through a Genomic Lens.”
Dr. Gharavi is the Jay Meltzer Professor of Nephrology and Hypertension and chief of the Division of Nephrology at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. He is also director of the Center for Precision Medicine and Genomics and interim director of the Institute for Genomic Medicine at Columbia University.
Dr. Gharavi's research is focused on the molecular genetics of kidney diseases. His work has led to the discovery of genes and loci for glomerulonephritis, hypertension, polycystic liver disease, and congenital defects of the kidney and urinary tract. His research has demonstrated the utility of sequencing in the diagnosis and management of patients with nephropathy. His current focus is on the genetics of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (the most common glomerulonephritis) and the genetics of the kidney and the urinary tract (the most common cause of kidney failure in children). His laboratory is also studying the applications of genomic medicine to clinical care for patients with kidney diseases.
Dr. Gharavi has contributed more than 160 publications on the genetics of kidney diseases, and his studies have clarified basic pathophysiology and influenced clinical practice across multiple areas. Dr. Gharavi is the principal investigator of multiple scientific projects funded by the National Institutes of Health.
He has served ASN in many capacities, including chairing abstract reviews for genetics, molecular genetics, and basic and experimental immunology; co-chairing several oral communications sessions, a symposium on genetic tools to study renal function, and a conference on genome engineering; and serving on the Program Committee of an annual meeting. He served on the Board of Directors of the Eastern Chapter of the American Society of Hypertension.
Dr. Gharavi has served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Physiology—Renal Physiology, Kidney International, and the Journal of Nephrology. He is currently associate editor of JASN.
Among his many honors, he has received the Judson Daland Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Investigation from the American Philosophical Society, the National Kidney Foundation Clinical Scientist Award, and the Kidney and Urology Foundation Innovator Award.
After receiving his medical degree from The George Washington University, Dr. Gharavi completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowships in hypertension and nephrology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in human genetics at Yale School of Medicine. He joined Columbia University in 2003.
