Nephrology

University Pediatricians | Michigan

About the Division of Nephrology

The Nephrology and Hypertension Division at Children’s Hospital of Michigan has consistently ranked among America’s top 50 programs in the nation in the U.S. News & World Report’s for the past 10 years. The Division offers comprehensive medical and diagnostic services to children of all ages with kidney and urinary tract problems. The Pediatric Nephrology team at Children’s Hospital of Michigan has more than 10,000 patient encounters per year across outpatient, inpatient, and dialysis settings.

Mission Statement / Focus

We strive to work with our patients’ families in a team-based approach with the aim at providing the best treatment, outcomes and quality of life for patients and their families.

Leadership

Division Chief: Gaurav Kapur, MD

Medical Director/Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program: Amrish Jain, MD, FAAP

Pediatric Nephrology and Hypertension Clinical Programs

Outpatient Renal Clinics

The outpatient clinics provide care for children with a variety of disorders – including chronic kidney disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), vesicoureteral reflux and urinary tract infection, bladder bowel dysfunction, congenital kidney anomalies, vasculitis, renal stones and disorders of fluid electrolyte, acid-base and mineral metabolism.

Specialized Clinics

  • Dialysis Program:

    The Larry Fleischman Dialysis Center is a CMS-certified free standing out-patient center providing dialysis care for children only in private child-friendly stations for in-center hemodialysis, and at-home peritoneal dialysis for both acute and chronic kidney failure. Established in 1969, the program at Children’s Hospital of Michigan was the 1st Pediatric End-Stage Renal Disease program in the State of Michigan. Since then, the program has a established a long history of providing exceptional pediatric care and currently provides >4000 treatments / year. Our dialysis team includes board-certified pediatric nephrologists, as well as nurses, dieticians and social worker who specialize in treating and caring for children needing outpatient dialysis.

  • Kidney Transplant Program:

    Our pediatric transplant program is a multidisciplinary program designed for the special needs of children and teens with end stage kidney disease. The program combines the expertise of Children’s Hospital of Michigan pediatric nephrologists, pediatric urologists and Henry Ford Hospital kidney transplant surgeons. Together, these physicians have vast experience performing living-donor and deceased-donor kidney transplants and providing long-term care of pediatric kidney transplant patients. Our patient outcomes exceed the standard established by the American Society of Transplantation and our transplant service has been established as a center of excellence. We also offer preemptive kidney transplants for patients before needing dialysis, participate in paired-kidney donation and provide desensitization for high-risk patients. Pediatric transplant specialists use a multidisciplinary approach to care, working closely with pre- and post-transplant nurse coordinators, social workers, dieticians, transplant pharmacist, transplant quality coordinator, transplant administrator and pediatric psychologist. A financial coordinator is also available to help families navigate their medical insurance requirements and identify other financial resources as needed.

  • Chronic Kidney Disease Clinic:

    The Chronic Kidney Disease Clinic focuses on the care of children with significant kidney disease, from birth to adulthood. Nationally it is one of the few clinics dedicated to the care of all children with chronic kidney disease in a multidisciplinary setting that includes a pediatric nephrologist, a nephrology registered nurse, a renal dietician and social worker. The clinic is dedicated to preserving a child’s kidney function, slowing the progression of his/her kidney disease and avoiding the complications of chronic kidney disease such as poor growth, abnormal bone metabolism and anemia. The clinic also provides education to clinic families about chronic kidney disease, assistance in obtaining specialized nutritional supplements, help in navigating insurance issues, and guidance in making the transition to either dialysis or renal transplantation in those patients who need it.

  • Comprehensive Hypertension Program:

    High Blood Pressure (hypertension) in children is frequently due to kidney problems and the comprehensive program aims at providing a systematic, consistent, and effective approach to evaluating children, adolescents, and young adults with high blood pressure. The program also provides ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (24-hour BP monitoring at home) for a detailed analysis of patients blood pressures.

  • Vasculitis Clinic:

    The Pediatric Vasculitis Clinic was founded in January 2002 by the divisions of Pediatric Nephrology and Pediatric Rheumatology as a means to provide comprehensive care to patients and families with autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, ANCA associated vasculitides, and others.  In the Vasculitis Clinic, patients are seen by both a Pediatric Rheumatologist and Pediatric Nephrologist in a single visit.  This single visit approach optimizes communication and timely decision making between subspecialists and families regarding the clinical care and treatment of their children with these complex conditions.  At the same time, the single visit allows the family to make only one trip to the clinic thereby minimizing days missed from school and/or work.  This was the first such program in the state of Michigan and after nearly 20 years, many children have benefited from this single visit model.

  • Tuberous Sclerosis:

    Tuberous sclerosis complex is a genetic disorder that causes tumors to form in many different organs, primarily in the brain, eyes, heart, kidney, skin and lungs. The Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Michigan is a multidisciplinary clinic for children with this disorder and is one of three clinics in Michigan designated as a center of excellence by the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Alliance, an internationally recognized non-profit organization devoted to improving the lives of people with tuberous sclerosis.

  • Prenatal Consultation:

    The pediatric nephrology team also provides comprehensive prenatal consultations through the Fetal Care Center at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Our team works as part of a multidisciplinary team with medical specialities such as maternal fetal medicine, pediatric urology, and neonatology. These comprehensive consultations for kidney & bladder abnormalities detected on fetal sonograms provide detailed discussions on diagnosis, outcomes and treatment options for these disorders. The early consultations provide parents with information on different diagnosis associated with the sonogram findings, postnatal evaluations, surgical procedures and options for preserving kidney function. 

Clinic Locations

Faculty

Pediatric Nephrology team at Children’s Hospital of Michigan includes 5 board certified nephrologists led by Dr. Gaurav Kapur (Director, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension). All have faculty appointments at Central Michigan University College of Medicine. The faculty is actively involved in teaching medical students from Central Michigan University and Wayne State University, pediatric and internal medicine residents, and pediatric nephrology fellows. All five nephrologists have been named as a ‘Top Doc’ by Hour Detroit.


The division also includes nine specialized nurses, a dietician and a specialized social worker.

Meet the Physicians

Want to learn more about our distinguished specialists? Click the button below to be taken to our Faculty Directory.

Faculty Directory →

Education

The Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship program at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan provides comprehensive training in the specialty, preparing the fellow for a productive and independent career in Pediatric Nephrology and Hypertension. The minimum duration of fellowship is three years. The Children’s Hospital of Michigan serves a diverse urban and suburban population, which provides fellows with excellent exposure to renal pathology across the Pediatric Nephrology continuum, from birth through transition to adulthood as well as from chronic kidney disease to dialysis and transplantation.


Click here or on the button below to learn more about the Nephrology Fellowship program.

Nephrology Fellowships →

Research

Pediatric nephrologists and pediatric nephrology trainees at Children’s Hospital of Michigan are actively conducting clinical research directed towards improving the care and clinical outcome of children with kidney disease. We are part of the Pediatric Nephrology Research Consortium and have participated in the NIH-sponsored multicenter Pediatric Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study (CKiDS).

 

Recent publications include the following:

  • Abukwaik WM, Baracco R, Jain A, Gregory M, Valentini RP, Kapur G. Clinical profile of children incidentally found to have advanced kidney failure. Pediatr Nephrol. 2021 Oct 9. doi: 10.1007/s00467-021-05293-4. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34626243.
  • Grewal MK, Gregory MJ, Jain A, Mohammad D, Cashen K, Ang JY, Thomas RL, Valentini RP. Acute Kidney Injury in Pediatric Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C): Is There a Difference? Front Pediatr. 2021 Aug 9;9:692256. doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.692256. PMID: 34434905; PMCID: PMC8380850.
  • Abid Q, Best Rocha A, Larsen CP, Schulert G, Marsh R, Yasin S, Patty-Resk C, Valentini RP, Adams M, Baracco R. APOL1-Associated Collapsing Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis in a Patient With Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING)-Associated Vasculopathy With Onset in Infancy (SAVI). Am J Kidney Dis. 2020 Feb;75(2):287-290. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2019.07.010. Epub 2019 Oct 7. PMID: 31601430; PMCID: PMC7115721.
  • Mohammad D, Leikert S, Gregory M, Baracco R. A 6-year-old male with acute kidney injury and enlarged kidneys: Questions. Pediatr Nephrol. 2021 Mar;36(3):575-576. doi: 10.1007/s00467-020-04690-5. Epub 2020 Jul 10. PMID: 32651714.
  • Jain A, Baracco R, Kapur G. Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma-an update on diagnosis, evaluation, and management. Pediatr Nephrol. 2020 Apr;35(4):581-594. doi: 10.1007/s00467-018-4181-2. Epub 2019 Jan 2. PMID: 30603807.

Recent Faculty Publications

  • Rossana Baracco, MD

    • Jain A, Baracco R, Kapur G. Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma – an update on diagnosis, evaluation, and management. Pediatr Nephrol 2020;35(4):581-94. 
    • Baracco R, Kamat D. Pediatric Nephrology. Pediatric Annals 2020;49(6):e248-49. (Guest editorial). 
    • Mohammad D, Baracco R. Postinfectious glomerulonephritis. Pediatric Annals 2020;49(6):e273-77. 
    • Baracco R. A practical guide to the management of severe hypertension in children. Paediatr Drugs 2020;22(1):13-20. 
    • Mohammad D, Leikert S, Gregory M, Baracco R. 6-year-old male with acute kidney injury and enlarged kidneys. Paediatr Nephrol 2020. Epub ahead of print. 

  • Melissa Gregory, MD

    • Mohammad, D., Leikert, S., Gregory, M., Baracco, R. A 6-year-old male with acute kidney injury and enlarged kidneys: Questions. Pediatr Nephrol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-020-04690-5 
    • Abid Q, Asmar B, Kim E, Molloy L, Gregory M, Valentini RP. Intraperitoneal vancomycin treatment of multifocal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis in a patient on peritoneal dialysis. Amer J Health-System Pharmacy. 2020: Sept 11. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajhp/zxaa244. 
    • Ma, M., Mazumder, S., Kwak, H. Adams M, Gregory M.. Case Report: Acute Thrombotic Microangiopathy in a Patient with STING-Associated Vasculopathy with Onset in Infancy (SAVI). J Clin Immunol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10875-020-00850-2 

  • Amrish Jain, MD, FAAP

    • Jain A, Baracco R, Kapur G. Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma-an update on diagnosis, evaluation, and management. Pediatr Nephrol. 2020 Apr;35(4):581-594. doi: 10.1007/s00467-018-4181-2. Epub 2019 Jan 2. 
    • Murphy et al. CureGN Consortium. Longitudinal Changes in Health-Related Quality of Life in Primary Glomerular Disease: Results From the CureGN Study. Kidney Int Rep. 2020 Jul 23;5(10):1679-1689. doi: 10.1016/j.ekir.2020.06.041. NIH-funded Multi-center study 
    • Delbarba et al. CureGN Consortium. Persistent Disease Activity in Patients With Long-Standing Glomerular Disease. Kidney Int Rep. 2020 Mar 20;5(6):860-871. doi: 10.1016/j.ekir.2020.03.017. eCollection 2020 Jun. 
    • Horton L, Mohammad F, Jain A, Potts G. An eruption of numerous spiny papules in a pediatric transplant patient. American Journal of Transplant December 2020. 

  • Gaurav Kapur, MD

    • Ariceta G, Dixon BP, Kim SH, Kapur G, Mauch T, Ortiz S, Vallee M, Denker AE, Kang HG, Greenbaum LA. The long-acting C5 inhibitor, ravulizumab, is effective and safe in pediatric patients with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome naïve to complement inhibitor treatment. Kidney Int. 2020 Dec 8:S0085-2538(20)31418-6. doi: 10.1016/j.kint.2020.10.046. Epub ahead of print 
    • Raina R, Mahajan Z, Sharma A, Chakraborty R, Mahajan S, Sethi SK, Kapur G, Kaelber D. Hypertensive Crisis in Pediatric Patients: An Overview. Front Pediatr. 2020 Oct 20;8:588911. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.588911. PMID: 33194923; PMCID: PMC7606848 
    • Raina R, Polaconda S, Nair N, Chakraborty R, Sethi S, Krishnappa V, Kapur G, Mhanna M, Kusumi K. Association of pulse pressure, pulse pressure index, and ambulatory arterial stiffness index with kidney function in a cross-sectional pediatric chronic kidney disease cohort from the CKiD study. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2020 Jun;22(6):1059-1069. doi: 10.1111/jch.13905. Epub 2020 May 30. PMID: 32472978 
    • Jain A, Baracco R, Kapur G. Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma-an update on diagnosis, evaluation, and management. Pediatr Nephrol. 2020 Apr;35(4):581-594. doi: 10.1007/s00467-018-4181-2. Epub 2019 Jan 2. PMID: 3060380 

  • Rudolph Valentini, MD

    • Abid Q, Best Rocha A, Larsen CP, Schulert G, Marsh R, Yasin S, Patty-Resk C, Valentini RP, Adams M, Baracco R. APOL1-Associated Collapsing Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis in a Patient With Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING)-Associated Vasculopathy With Onset in Infancy (SAVI). Am J Kidney Dis. 2020 Feb;75(2):287-290. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2019.07.010. Epub 2019 Oct 7. 
    • Lok CE, Huber TS, Lee T, Shenoy S, Yevzlin AS, Abreo K, Allon M, Asif A, Astor BC, Glickman MH, Graham J, Moist LM, Rajan DK, Roberts C, Vachharahani TJ, and Valentini RP. KDOQI Clinical Practice Guideline for Vascular Access: 2019 Update. Am J Kidney Dis. 75 (4): S1-S164, 2020. 
    • Abid Q, Asmar B, Kim E, Molloy L, Gregory M, Valentini RP. Intraperitoneal vancomycin treatment of multifocal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis in a patient on peritoneal dialysis. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2020 Oct 14;77(21):1746-1750. doi:10.1093/ajhp/zxaa244. 

Recent Faculty Abstracts/Presentations (National)

  • Amrish Jain, MD

    • Ashoor I, Solomon S, Engen R, Jain A, Garro R Kallash M, Twombley K. Significance of antibody clearance, treatment and pathology findings in antibody mediated rejection in pediatric kidney transplant recipients on 1 year outcomes: Preliminary findings from the PARAMOUr “PediAtric Renal AMr Outcomes” study. (28th International Congress of the Transplantation Society, Virtual Presentation, 2020)
    • Solomon S, Garro R, Jain A, Kallash M, Hayde N, Twombley K and Ashoor I. Antimicrobial Prophylaxis Post Antibody Mediated Rejection Treatment in Pediatric Kidney Transplant Recipients: Interim Report from the PARAMOUr “PediAtric Renal AMr Outcomes” Study. (American Transplant Congress, Virtual Presentation, 2020). 
    • Ashoor I, Engen R, Garro R, Solomon S, Kallash M, Jain A, Twombley K. Antibody Mediated Rejection Treatment in Pediatric Kidney Transplant Recipients: Practice patterns, Initial Report from the PARAMOUr “PediAtric Renal AMr Outcomes” Study. (Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting, Virtual Presentation, 2020). 
    • Ashoor I, Engen R, Garro R, Solomon S, Kallash M, Jain A, Twombley K. Significance of Pathology in Antibody Mediated Rejection in Pediatric Kidney Transplant Recipients on 1 year Outcomes: PARAMOUr “PediAtric Renal AMr Outcomes” Study. (American Transplant Congress, Virtual Presentation, 2020). 
    • Ashoor I, Engen R, Garro R, Solomon S, Kallash M, Jain A, Twombley K. Significance of HLA in Antibody Mediated Rejection in Pediatric Kidney Transplant Recipients on 1 year Outcomes: PARAMOUr “PediAtric Renal AMr Outcomes” Study. (American Transplant Congress, Virtual Presentation, 2020).

  • Gaurav Kapur, MD

    • Efficacy and safety of ravulizumab in pediatric patients with atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome naïve to complement inhibitor treatment: 26-week and 1-year data. ASN Kidney Week 2020 (Accepted as ePoster – presentation on 22nd Oct 2020) 
    • The long-acting complement inhibitor ravulizumab in children with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (interim analysis) [encore abstract from IPNA 2019]. Pediatric Academic Societies 2020 (Accepted as poster for 3rd May presentation; congress cancelled due to COVID-19 

Recent Faculty Grants

  • Amrish Jain, MD

    CureGN 2.0: Cure Glomerulonephropathy Network. Site Principal Investigator. Funding Source: The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH-NIDDK). 2020-2024

  • Gaurav Kapur, MD

    A phase 3, open-label, multicenter study of ALXN1210 in children and adolescents with atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome (aHUS) Role; Regional sub-site Principal Investigator Funding Source: Alexion Pharmaceuticals 2018 – Ongoing Total Costs; $ 56,145.67 

Recent Faculty Awards & Other Professional Accomplishments

  • Amrish Jain, MD

    Awards: 

    • Detroit Top Docs

    Other Professional Accomplishments:

    • Editorial Board Member, PREP Self Assessment, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): peer review, writing board-styled questions and critiques for pediatric board preparation and maintenance of certification 
    • Invited Reviewer, Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) submitted abstracts, Annual PAS Conference, Philadelphia, 2020, reviewed 15 abstracts 
    • Invited to Chair the session “Coming up short: Improving Access to Kidney Transplant in Children”, Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Annual Conference, Philadelphia, 2020 
    • Education Subcommittee Member, American Society of Transplantation, Pediatric Community of Practice (PCOP), building educational materials and suggesting topics for the annual meeting

  • Gaurav Kapur, MD

    Awards:

    • Detroit Top Docs 

    Other Professional Accomplishments:

    • Medical Review Committee, Midwest Kidney Network (ESRD Network 11) 
    • Pediatrics Review and Education Program (PREP)- Self Assessment for the PREP program for Pediatric Nephrology CME by the American Academy of Pediatrics