Department Reports
Nephrology
The Division of Nephrology provides specialized primary and consultative care for infants, children and adolescents with congenital and acquired kidney disorders. The division serves as the regional referral center for children with end-stage kidney disease and is a national leader in nephrology care.
We have extended our service to provide outpatient care regionally at outreach clinics in the states of Washington, Alaska and Montana. The division runs an outpatient dialysis unit and also provides emergency dialysis and ongoing renal support to critically ill hospitalized children, including those in the intensive care units at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The need for dialysis services at Children’s continues to grow because of the increasing complexity of care for children undergoing cardiac surgery and transplants of bone marrow, heart and intestine. Faculty members also provide nephrology care for children at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Wash.
Division physicians evaluate children who are candidates for kidney transplantation. In conjunction with other members of a multidisciplinary transplant program, they manage the pre- and post-transplant care of renal transplant recipients. Our nephrology team of 10 pediatric nephrologists, two advanced registered nurse practitioners, several nephrology nurses, dietitians and social workers works collaboratively to provide a variety of support and follow-up services to ensure the best family-centered care. A pediatric hypertension clinic was established in 2008.
The nephrology research program at Children’s has become one of the largest and most productive programs in the country. Several division faculty members have been awarded competitive research grants. We are committed to training physicians for careers in nephrology at academic pediatric centers. Our fellowship program is one of the most sought-after fellowships in the country, with the goal of training future leaders in the field of academic pediatric nephrology. Since 1990, we have trained 30 pediatric nephrologists with support from Children’s and from a training grant from the National Institutes of Health; eight more are currently in the program. Division members fulfill important educational roles in the community and continually participate in national organizations and societies; several faculty members hold leadership roles in these organizations. Division faculty members are frequently invited to speak at national and international meetings.