Sushrut Waikar, MD
Norman G. Levinsky Professor of Medicine
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Medicine
Nephrology

MD, Yale University
MPH, Harvard School of Public Health
BA, Amherst College



Sushrut S. Waikar, MD, MPH received a BA in English and Neuroscience at Amherst College, his MD at Yale, and an MPH at Harvard. He is the Norman G. Levinsky Professor of Medicine at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine and Chief of Nephrology at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Waikar's research interests and active projects include epidemiologic, translational, and interventional studies to address novel and clinically important questions in nephrology. Current areas of investigation include optimal diagnostic testing in acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease; biomarkers of kidney pathology and kidney fibrosis; the identification of relevant targets for interventional trials in kidney disease; and randomized controlled trials. He is a Principal Investigator of several NIH grants including the Kidney Precision Medicine Project (U01 DK133092), Multi-omics and Chronic Kidney Disease: Correlation with Histology (R01 DK108803), Discovery Science Collaborative for CKDu (U01 DK130060), NAD Augmentation to Treat Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial (U01AG076789) andThe Boston University Kidney and Medical Engineering Program (BU-KIDMEP, R25 DK128858).

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

Diversity is a defining and fundamental feature of our biology and society. Diversity allowed for evolution and is a prerequisite for our continued growth as a people. My first memories and experiences with diversity came as a four-year-old immigrant to Chicago, IL by way of a relatively homogenous city in central India. Diversity for me began with an intense feeling of otherness: I had black, white, and brown classmates, but I "belonged" to none of them because of my accented and under-developed English. Growing up in a predominantly white and middle-class neighborhood in suburban Chicago, I struggled to feel comfortable in my own skin, which stood out starkly in class pictures. While my experiences as an immigrant are not unique and were in fact privileged compared to so many, they shaped my appreciation and empathy for others who, like me, don't feel like they quite "belong."

As a resident in internal medicine, I had the great fortune of being assigned to a primary care clinic at San Francisco General Hospital, where virtually none of my patients hailed from the "majority," whether in terms of skin color, income, or freedom from addiction. Later, as a trainee in nephrology, I was exposed to the stark disparities in kidney diseases across so many of these same strata. Now as a member and leader at Boston Medical Center, the institution that proudly serves as the region's safety net hospital, I hope to be able to use my position to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility across our institution. My activities in pursuit of social justice and DEIA include the following:

- Commitment to highlighting historical instances of subtle racism in nephrology: for over 20 years, kidney function was estimated differently for black vs. non-black individuals through an equation that initially began as a biostatistical/epidemiological adjustment for "best fit." Over the years, it slowly and belatedly dawned on many in our field that singling out black vs. non-black people while estimating organ function perpetuated a racialized view of humanity. My contributions to this discussion in nephrology include 1) co-authorship on a manuscript on race, genetic ancestry, and kidney function estimation (Hsu et al., New Engl J Med 2021); 2) a perspectives piece entitled "Separate and Unequal: Race-Based Algorithms and Implications for Nephrology" (Schmidt and Waikar, J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021) which highlights other examples of subtle racism in our field; and 3) advocating for and helping to implement the race-neutral kidney function estimating equation at Boston Medical Center.

- Scientific activities on minoritized and marginalized populations: I am a Principal Investigator of the Kidney Precision Medicine Project, a study of the molecular underpinnings of common forms of kidney disease that disproportionately afflict minority populations in the United States. Boston Medical Center has been a major contributor to this effort and in particular on emphasiing the need for recruitment of diverse populations and expanding the scientific focus to social determinants of health. I am also a Principal Investigator of the Chronic Kidney Disease of Uncertain Etiology Consortium, a study of a mysterious kidney disease epidemic afflicting poor agricultural communities in Central America and India. Boston University has been a leader in this scientific investigation for many years, and as of 2021 Boston Medical Center along with co-PI's at Stanford and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center are leading the efforts as the Renal Science Core to understand the cause(s) of this condition.

Much work remains to be done in our institution. Areas of focus include:
- Increasing the diversitry of our nephrology faculty to better mirror the diversity of the patients we serve
- Recruiting and training a diverse group of fellows in nephrology at Boston Medical Center and nationally
- Community outreach to neighborhoods to enlist non-academic partners in the pursuit of kidney health

Section Chief
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Medicine
Nephrology




Pre-Notification transfer from USF for Jie Zhang Significance of Tubuloglomerular Feedback in SGLT1 and SGLT2 Inhibition in Diabetic Kidney Disease
04/01/2023 - 03/31/2028 (PI)
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases/NIH/DHHS

Multi-Omics and Chronic Kidney Disease: Correlation with Histology
07/15/2022 - 06/30/2027 (PI)
New York University Health Resources and

NAD Augmentation to Treat Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial
08/01/2022 - 07/31/2025 (PI)
Brigham and Womens Hospital National Institutes
1U01AG076789-01

Role of Amphiregulin in kidney fibrosis- DK121200
09/15/2019 - 08/31/2024 (PI)
Washington University National Institutes
5R01DK121200-03

A Study of the Prevalence of Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) Alleles Among Individuals With Proteinuric Kidney Disease Who Are of Recent African Ancestry or Geographic Origin
08/20/2020 - 08/20/2024 (PI)
Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Boston Chronic Kidney Disease Research Biopsy Center
09/15/2022 - 06/30/2024 (PI)
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases/NIH/DHHS
1U01DK133092-01

Discovery Science Collaborative for CKDu
08/25/2021 - 06/30/2024 (PI)
Stanford University National Institute o
5U01DK130060-03

Biomarker-based Diagnostic Algorithms to Prevent, Detect, and Guide Treatment of Kidney Disease in Persons Living with HIV
09/01/2021 - 05/31/2024 (PI)
Northern California Institute for Research and Education National Institute o
5R01AG034853-13

Role of Mitochondrial Health in Acute and Chronic Kidney Disease in Older…
09/16/2019 - 04/30/2024 (PI)
Northern California Institute for Research and Education National Institutes
5R01AG027002-14

Measuring podocyte urinary biomarkers across renal disorders
04/06/2022 - 04/05/2024 (PI)
Pfizer, Inc

Showing 10 of 25 results. Show All Results

Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2024 The Boston University Kidney and Medical Engineering Program (BU-KIDMEP) 5R25DK128858-04
2023 Boston Chronic Kidney Disease Research Biopsy Center 5U01DK133092-02
2023 NAD Augmentation to Treat Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial 5U01AG076789-02
2023 Discovery Science Collaborative for CKDu 5U01DK130060-03
2023 The Boston University Kidney and Medical Engineering Program (BU-KIDMEP) 5R25DK128858-03
2023 Multi-Omics and Chronic Kidney Disease: Correlation with Histology 5R01DK108803-07
2022 Boston Chronic Kidney Disease Research Biopsy Center 1U01DK133092-01
2022 NAD Augmentation to Treat Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial 1U01AG076789-01
2022 Discovery Science Collaborative for CKDu 5U01DK130060-02
2022 The Boston University Kidney and Medical Engineering Program (BU-KIDMEP) 5R25DK128858-02
Showing 10 of 53 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. van Raalte DH, Bjornstad P, Cherney DZI, de Boer IH, Fioretto P, Gordin D, Persson F, Rosas SE, Rossing P, Schaub JA, Tuttle K, Waikar SS, Heerspink HJL. Combination therapy for kidney disease in people with diabetes mellitus. Nat Rev Nephrol. 2024 Apr 03. PMID: 38570632
     
  2. Verma A, Schmidt IM, Claudel S, Palsson R, Waikar SS, Srivastava A. Association of Albuminuria With Chronic Kidney Disease Progression in Persons With Chronic Kidney Disease and Normoalbuminuria : A Cohort Study. Ann Intern Med. 2024 Apr 02.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38560911; DOI: 10.7326/M23-2814;
     
  3. Waikar SS. Biomarker blues: balancing hope and hype in acute kidney injury. Kidney Int. 2024 Apr; 105(4):679-682. PMID: 38519237
     
  4. Li H, Li D, Ledru N, Xuanyuan Q, Wu H, Asthana A, Byers LN, Tullius SG, Orlando G, Waikar SS, Humphreys BD. Transcriptomic, epigenomic, and spatial metabolomic cell profiling redefines regional human kidney anatomy. Cell Metab. 2024 Mar 13. PMID: 38513647
     
  5. Samal L, Kilgallon JL, Lipsitz S, Baer HJ, McCoy A, Gannon M, Noonan S, Dunk R, Chen SW, Chay WI, Fay R, Garabedian PM, Wu E, Wien M, Blecker S, Salmasian H, Bonventre JV, McMahon GM, Bates DW, Waikar SS, Linder JA, Wright A, Dykes P. Clinical Decision Support for Hypertension Management in Chronic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2024 Mar 11. PMID: 38466302; PMCID: PMC10928544; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.8315;
     
  6. Claudel SE, Chan M, Scammell MK, Waikar SS. Challenges and Opportunities: Studying CKDu in the United States. Kidney360. 2024 Mar 06.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38446084; DOI: 10.34067/KID.0000000000000408;
     
  7. Jotwani V, Yang SY, Thiessen-Philbrook H, Parikh CR, Katz R, Tranah GJ, Ix JH, Cummings S, Waikar SS, Shlipak MG, Sarnak MJ, Parikh SM, Arking DE. Mitochondrial genetic variation and risk of chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury in UK Biobank participants. Hum Genet. 2024 Feb; 143(2):151-157. PMID: 38349571; PMCID: PMC10881785; DOI: 10.1007/s00439-023-02615-4;
     
  8. Ledru N, Wilson PC, Muto Y, Yoshimura Y, Wu H, Li D, Asthana A, Tullius SG, Waikar SS, Orlando G, Humphreys BD. Predicting proximal tubule failed repair drivers through regularized regression analysis of single cell multiomic sequencing. Nat Commun. 2024 Feb 12; 15(1):1291. PMID: 38347009; PMCID: PMC10861555; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45706-0;
     
  9. Claudel SE, Waikar SS, Schmidt IM, Vasan RS, Verma A. The relationship between low levels of albuminuria and cardiovascular mortality among apparently healthy adults. medRxiv. 2023 Dec 24.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38196576; PMCID: PMC10775339; DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.21.23300378;
     
  10. Claudel SE, Waikar SS, Gopal DM, Verma A. Association of cardiac biomarkers, kidney function, and mortality among adults with chronic kidney disease. medRxiv. 2023 Dec 14.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38168327; PMCID: PMC10760296; DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.12.23299886;
     
Showing 10 of 296 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 296 publications over 20 distinct years, with a maximum of 42 publications in 2021

YearPublications
20051
20064
20073
20086
20096
20103
20119
201215
201315
201413
201512
201617
201715
201810
201923
202036
202142
202228
202330
20248
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