Nephrologist Ignacio Portales-Castillo Named 2025 Dean’s Scholar

Ignacio Portales-Castillo is one of four 2025 Dean’s Scholar inductees.

Ignacio Portales-Castillo, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, WashU Nephrology, is one of four new inductees into the 2025 Dean’s Scholar program.

Established in 2020 by the Division of Physician-Scientists, the program provides funding, mentorship and protected research time to support the professional development of early-career physician-scientists.

Dr. Portales-Castillo, who joined our division in 2022, dedicates his time providing inpatient and outpatient nephrology consults at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, as well as conducting research in the laboratory of Roberto Civitelli, MD, the Sydney M. and Stella H. Shoenberg Chair in Medicine, and Chief of the Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases.

Specializing in bone and mineral disorders in chronic kidney disease, in addition to calcium and phosphate metabolism, Portales-Castillo’s research explores parathyroid hormone receptor function and its role in skeletal and metabolic health. The Dean’s Scholar funding will support his research focusing on “beta-arrestin-mediated desensitization of PTHrP actions at the growth plate and adipose tissue.”

Among his many recent accomplishments (see below), Portales-Castillo was awarded a grant from WashU’s Clinical and Translational Research Funding Program, which supports projects that promote the translation of scientific discoveries into advancements in human health. He also won the Rising Stars Power Talks competition (formerly known as the Knockout Rounds) during the 2024 ENDO conference.

“I am very thankful to the Division of Physician-Scientists for giving me this award and, overall, for providing a framework to follow my passion for science and medicine.”
Ignacio Portales-Castillo

Also named 2025 Dean’s Scholars are: Quazim Alayo, MBBS, MSc, MMSc, Clinical Fellow, Medicine-Gastroenterology; Whitney Brandt, MD,Assistant Professor, Surgery – Cardiothoracic; and Roheena Panni, MBBS, MPHS Panni, MBBS, MPHS, Assistant Professor, Surgery – Surgical Oncology. See all past recipients here.

Congratulations to Dr. Portales-Castillo and the other recipients on this well-deserved recognition!