WashU Nephrology scientists and clinical researchers are nationally and internationally recognized for seminal breakthroughs in nephrology research that advance the understanding of the mechanisms behind renal dysfunction and the development of new patient care practices.

Our clinical and translational research activities encompass outcomes research, biomarker discovery, genomics, clinical trials, and discovery/validation studies.  In addition, our Translational Innovation Grant (TIG) program awards funding annually to a basic scientist and clinician from within the division to pursue a collaborative project with translational potential.  See more about the annual TIG grant program below.

Meet our investigators:


Monica Chang-Panesso, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, studies the molecular mechanisms underlying the repair response after acute kidney injury, with a special interest in how this differs in aging and potentially drives a higher incidence of failed repair. She is the first recipient of the Roger M. Perlmutter Career Development and was honored with an American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) Council Young Physician-Scientist Award.

Recent publications:

Feng Chen, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, studies kidney diseases and cancer.  Dr. Chen has a 2.2M R01 grant from the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) that is funding a research project titled Pathogenic Variant Discovery Across a Broad Spectrum of Human Diseases.

Recent publications:

Ying Maggie Chen, MD, PhD, Associate  Professor of Medicine, studies endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated kidney diseases.  Dr. Chen recently received a $1.8M Department of Defense Grant to develop treatment for FSGS. 

Recent publications:

Leslie Gewin, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, is interested in understanding how tubular responses to kidney injuries such as diabetes and hypertension lead to repair versus progressive destruction of kidney function and the need for renal replacement therapy. Her lab focuses on understanding how growth factors like Wnt/beta-catenin and changes in metabolism and cell cycle modulate the epithelial response to injury.

Twitter: @LeslieGewin

Recent publications:

Dr. Andreas Herrlich

Andreas Herrlich, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of Translational Medicine, studies growth factors and kidney disease. Dr. Herrlich recently received a 1.45M R01 grant to study amphiregulin and kidney fibrosis.

Twitter: @HerrlichLab

Recent publications:


Dr. Benjamin Humphreys

Benjamin Humphreys, MD, PhD, Joseph Friedman Professor of Renal Diseases in medicine and Chief, Division of Nephrology, studies kidney stem cell and regenerative biology.  Dr. Humphreys recently received his second Chan Zuckerberg grant, which will define the transcriptome and epigenome of the normal human kidney.

Twitter: @HumphreysLab

Recent publications:


Sanjay Jain, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine and director of the Kidney Translational Research Center, studies development and diseases of the urogenital and nervous systems.  Dr. Jain recently received an NIH HuBMAP grant for generation of a single cell and 3D molecular atlas of the urinary system. 

Recent publications:

Anuja Java, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and the Director of Kidney Transplant at the John Cochran VA Medical Center. Dr. Java is a renowned physician-scientist and expert in rare complement diseases and their involvement in kidney damage, including atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). 

Twitter: @anuja_java

Recent publications:

Moe Mahjoub, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, studies the role of the centrosome and cilium during development, and their dysfunction in human disease.  Dr. Mahjoub is part of a group who recently received a $3.14M NHLBI grant to examine regulation of motile cilia assembly in lung disease. 

Twitter: @MahjoubLab

Recent publications:

Andrew Malone, MB, BCh, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Transplant Nephrology, focuses primarily on the immune cell landscape in human kidney transplants. Their goal is to answer important clinical questions in transplantation by applying modern experimental techniques on human samples. Their team was the first to publish on the application of single cell RNA-seq to single core kidney transplant biopsy samples.

Twitter: @AndrewFMalone

Recent publications:

Jeffrey Miner, PhD, FASN, Eduardo and Judith Slatopolsky Endowed Professor of Medicine in Nephrology, studies the role of the glomerular basement membrane in kidney function and diseases.  Dr. Miner is the principal investigator of the new CDI Pediatric Disease Mouse Models Core and is president of the American Society for Matrix Biology (ASMB) for 2021-2022.

Twitter: @JeffMinerPhD

Recent publications:

Michael Rauchman, MDCM, Professor of Medicine and Sectional Chief of Nephrology at St. Louis Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, studies molecular and genetic basis of kidney development and how disruption of specific pathways leads to abnormal development of the kidney.  Rauchman was recently installed as Chromalloy Professor of Renal Diseases in Medicine and is very active in research at the VA.

Recent publications:


Hani Suleiman, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, studies podocyte biology, in particular the podocyte’s change under pathological conditions and the role of isoactins, tropomyosins and formins in governing such change. The diseases that are the focus of his laboratory are mainly kidney glomerular diseases from genetic diseases such as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, to diseases such as diabetic nephropathy and transplant glomerulopathy.

Twitter: @hansul

Recent publications:

WashU Nephrology’s Translational Innovation Grant (TIG)

The Division of Nephrology offers an annual grant ($50,000) to bring together a basic scientist and clinician from within the division to pursue a collaborative project with translational potential.

Recipients of the TIG grant:

  • 2022 – Andreas Herrlich, MD, PhD, Charbel Khoury, MD, and Megan Moseley, Physician Assistant in Critical Care, Anesthesiology, will Study Osteopontin in COVID-19 associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).