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

Interim Chief and Chair
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Medicine


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



Master Faculty and Staff Support Contract-VA Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research
04/14/2022 - 06/11/2025 (PI)
Department of Veterans Affairs



Unrecognized Primary Aldosteronism as a Pathogenic Mechanism for CKD in Diabetes
09/10/2024 - 05/31/2029 (Subcontract PI)
PI: Sushrut Waikar, MD
Brigham and Womens Hospital NIH

Multi-Omics and Chronic Kidney Disease: Correlation with Histology
07/15/2022 - 06/30/2027 (Subcontract PI)
PI: Sushrut Waikar, MD
New York University HHS HRSA


Biomarker-based Diagnostic Algorithms to Prevent, Detect, and Guide Treatment of Kidney Disease in Persons Living with HIV
09/01/2021 - 05/31/2026 (Subcontract PI)
PI: Sushrut Waikar, MD
Northern California Institute for Research and Education NIH NIA


The Boston University Kidney and Medical Engineering Program (BU-KIDMEP)
04/01/2021 - 02/28/2026 (Multi-PI)
PI: Sushrut Waikar, MD
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases/NIH/DHHS
1R25DK128858-01

Measuring podocyte urinary biomarkers across renal disorders
04/06/2022 - 12/31/2025 (PI)
Pfizer, Inc


Functional MRI to Identify High-risk CKD Phenotypes
12/19/2024 - 11/30/2025 (Subcontract PI)
PI: Sushrut Waikar, MD
University of Illinios Chicago NIH NIDDK
1R01DK139321-01A1

Targeting DEspR+  "rogue" neutrophils in CKD
10/10/2024 - 10/09/2025 (Subcontract PI)
PI: Sushrut Waikar, MD
Boston University Novo Nordisk

Role of Amphiregulin in kidney fibrosis- DK121200
09/15/2019 - 08/31/2025 (Subcontract PI)
PI: Sushrut Waikar, MD
Washington University NIH
5R01DK121200-03

NAD Augmentation to Treat Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial
08/01/2022 - 07/31/2025 (Subcontract PI)
PI: Sushrut Waikar, MD
Brigham and Womens Hospital NIH


Boston Chronic Kidney Disease Research Biopsy Center
09/15/2022 - 06/30/2025 (PI)
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases/NIH/DHHS


Showing 10 of 28 results. Show All Results

Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2024 Boston Chronic Kidney Disease Research Biopsy Center 5U01DK133092-03
2024 NAD Augmentation to Treat Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial 5U01AG076789-03
2024 Discovery Science Collaborative for CKDu 5U01DK130060-04
2024 The Boston University Kidney and Medical Engineering Program (BU-KIDMEP) 5R25DK128858-04
2024 Multi-Omics and Chronic Kidney Disease: Correlation with Histology 5R01DK108803-08
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
Showing 10 of 57 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. González-Quiroz M, Aceituno A, Anand S, van Geen A, Engel LS, Jarquin E, Ruepert C, Villegas-González N, Arias-Hidalgo M, Franceschini N, Anchía-Pastrán D, Solano-Diaz K, Corrales-Vargas A, Crowe J, Cubilla-Batista I, Acosta H, Mike A, Guzmán-Quilo C, Aragón A, López-Bonilla I, Rohloff P, Scammell MK, Garcia-Trabanino R, Velázquez JA, Brooks DR, Mohan S, Radhakrishnan J, Gummidi B, Jha V, Collado W, Bhalla V, Friedman DJ, Waikar SS, Kesler K, Trochinski L, Ferguson PL, Parsons PJ, Hsu-Kim H, Huset C, Summer Jenkins S, Mendley SR, Lebov JF, Joubert BR, Navas-Acien A. Environmental exposure assessment in the international prospective study of Chronic Kidney Disease of UnceRtain Etiology (CKDu) in Agricultural Communities (CURE) research consortium: Design and protocol development. Sci Total Environ. 2025 Jun 25; 983:179642.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40409020
     
  2. Mc Causland FR, Waikar SS, Claggett B, McMahon GM, Neto OMV, Rastogi A, Praditpornsilpa K, Correa-Rotter R, Kher V, Del Vecchio L, Solomon SD, Singh AK. Association of Different Definitions of Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agent Hyporesponsiveness with Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events: Insights From ASCEND-D. Kidney360. 2025 May 07. PMID: 40333020
     
  3. Solomon M, Heydarpour M, Tsai LC, Honzel B, Brown J, Newman AJ, Parisien-LaSalle S, Wang TJ, Wei J, Zhang J, Waikar S, Vaidya A. The Impact Of Modern Industrialized Dietary Sodium Intake On The Plasma Proteome. Am J Hypertens. 2025 May 06. PMID: 40327765
     
  4. Claudel SE, Waikar SS, Verma A. Albuminuria References Ranges in Healthy US Adults. J Appl Lab Med. 2025 May 02; 10(3):767-771.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39981782; PMCID: PMC12048213; DOI: 10.1093/jalm/jfaf015;
     
  5. Claudel SE, Schmidt IM, Waikar SS, Verma A. Albuminuria: A Marker of Adverse Kidney Outcomes in Heart Failure. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2025 Apr 01; 85(12):1372-1375.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40139894; PMCID: PMC12046502; DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2025.01.025;
     
  6. Menon R, Kimmel PL, Otto EA, Subramanian L, Berthier CC, O' Connor CL, Godfrey B, Naik AS, Sarwal M, Woodle ES, Pyle L, Choi YJ, Ladd P, Sedor JR, Rosas SE, Waikar SS, Bitzer M, Bjornstad P, Hodgin JB, Kretzler M. Not all controls are made equal: Definition of human kidney reference samples by single cell gene expression profiles. medRxiv. 2025 Mar 25. PMID: 40166576; PMCID: PMC11957099; DOI: 10.1101/2025.03.17.25324134;
     
  7. Schmidt IM, Verma A, Claudel SE, Palsson R, Srivastava A, Stillman IE, Beck LH, Waikar SS. Genetic Testing in Biopsy-Confirmed Kidney Disease. Kidney Med. 2025 May; 7(5):100994.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40321977; PMCID: PMC12049994; DOI: 10.1016/j.xkme.2025.100994;
     
  8. Claudel SE, Schmidt IM, Waikar SS, Verma A. Cumulative Incidence of Mortality Associated with Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) Syndrome. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2025 Feb 11.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39932805; DOI: 10.1681/ASN.0000000637;
     
  9. Kim T, Surapaneni AL, Leo H, Fino NF, Inker LA, Levey AS, Schmidt IM, Waikar SS, Coresh J, Grams ME, Rhee EP. Renal Arteriovenous Gradients for Greater Than 10,000 Circulating Proteins. Am J Kidney Dis. 2025 May; 85(5):659-662.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39848531
     
  10. Greenberg JH, Abraham AG, Xu Y, Schelling JR, Coca SG, Schrauben SJ, Wilson FP, Waikar SS, Vasan RS, Gutiérrez OM, Shlipak MG, Ix JH, Warady BA, Kimmel PL, Bonventre JV, Parikh CR, Denburg M, Furth S. Biomarker Panels for Discriminating Risk of CKD Progression in Children. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2025 Jun 01; 36(6):1105-1115. PMID: 39820177
     
Showing 10 of 327 results. Show More

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

Bar chart showing 327 publications over 21 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
202428
202511

Note: X.com has changed/limited the ability to embed tweets directly in external sites and we are investigating ways to restore that functionality in BU Profiles. In the meantime we are displaying a link to your x.com profile in the Websites section above.
Contact for Mentoring:
Waikar's Networks
Click the "See All" links for more information and interactive visualizations
Concepts
_
Media Mentions
_
Co-Authors
_
Similar People
_
Same Department