Clinical Research

The Division’s clinical research programs are active and growing rapidly. The research program led by Glenn Chertow applies principles of clinical epidemiology, health services research, decision sciences and clinical trials to major problems in acute and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Chertow has active collaborations with researchers at multiple campuses of the University of California, Kaiser Permanente Northern California and other leading US institutions. Currently, Chertow is PI of the Frequent Hemodialysis Network, Co-Director of the USRDS Special Studies Center in Nutrition/Malnutrition, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Acute Renal Failure Trials Network (ATN) study and Steering Committee of the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) study.

Richard Lafayette MD, Jeffrey Petersen MD and Yiming Lit MD are actively exploring multiple strategies (at Stanford and the Palo Alto VA) to optimize care of patients with CKD. Ralph Rabkin MD, in conjunction with Lit, has begun a study into the mechanism of muscle wasting in advanced CKD and the value of testosterone replacement in patients with testosterone deficiency. Lafayette has embarked on a plan to develop a multidisciplinary glomerular disease research network in conjunction with faculty members in the Divisions of Immunology and Rheumatology and other Departments in the School of Medicine.

The Division’s transplant nephrologists (John Scandling MD, Jane Tan MD, and Basit Javaid MD) are actively involved in clinical transplantation research, particularly in the area of tolerance, in collaboration with faculty members in the Departments of Surgery and Immunology. Rex Jamison MD remains actively involved in the Division’s educational and clinical research missions, in addition to his role as the Secretary for the Academic Senate. Jamison recently completed the Homocysteine in End-stage and Advanced Kidney Disease study (HOST) as Principal Investigator, 37 years starting of the Division of Nephrology at Stanford with Roy Maffly MD.

Dialysis research has become a major focus of interest in the Division, spearheaded by Tim Meyer's MD work in understanding the role of protein-bound solutes in uremia. The Division is particularly well poised to excel in dialysis research, having established strong ties with Satellite Healthcare, a non-profit dialysis provider based in Mountain View, just a few miles from the Stanford campus. Moreover, the Division of Nephrology at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center has a large dialysis program (roughly 300 peritoneal and hemodialysis patients) and an active hospital-based and ambulatory practices consisting primarily of persons from minority and other disadvantaged groups. Plans to establish a research program focused on Nephrology care to the underserved based at the “Valley” are underway.