Gonzalo Matzumura Umemoto, MD, a recent graduate of our Nephrology Fellowship Program, joined our faculty as Assistant Professor on July 1, 2021.
Dr. Matzumura earned his medical degree from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. He then spent two years as Assistant to the Dean of Medical Education at Facultad de Medicina Alberto Hurtado before moving to Texas where he completed internal medicine training at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. During his training, he was recognized with the “Outstanding Resident” award for the 2018 academic year. Matzumura joined our division as a nephrology fellow in 2019.
As a renal fellow during the COVID-19 pandemic, Matzumura participated in clinical research studies and was co-author of the article Management of Acute Kidney Injury in Coronavirus Disease 2019, which was published in ACKD (August 2020). His research interests include the role of ultrasound in the management of volume status in dialysis patients as well as functional renal imaging modalities.
In addition to pursuing clinical research in the ESRD population, Matzumura will also serve as Director of the Renal Biopsy Program, an in-house renal biopsy service designed to train fellows in the procedure. While the procedure is an indispensable tool in the diagnosis, prognosis and management of patients with renal diseases, only a handful of nephrology programs in the United States teach ultrasound-guided kidney biopsies to their fellows.
“At WashU we are fortunate to have the resources and the collaborative environment to provide our fellows with this unique training opportunity,” says Matzumura. Read more about Matzumura and his plans for the Biopsy Program in our Nephrology Update 2021 Spring Newsletter.
In his down time, Matzumura enjoys baseball, running, biking, cooking and picked-up houseplants during the pandemic. Fun fact: he was a former Peruvian Youth National Record Holder in javelin throw!
Follow Dr. Matzumura on Twitter @GMatzumura and read here about his reflections on expectations, camaraderie, St. Louis, the pandemic, and experiences in his first year of the fellowship.