Top Doctors List 2021 | HOUR Detroit Magazine

Division Of Pediatric Nephrology

Pediatric Nephrology is located within the UAB Department of Pediatrics at Children's of Alabama. The nephrology team, which includes specialized nurses, nutritionist, social workers, family counselors and faculty, evaluate and treat children with kidney disease from infancy to adolescence. They care for those with urinary tract infections, hypertension, hematuria, proteinuria, glomerulonephritis, and nephrotic syndrome, vasculitis, and systemic lupus erythematosis and chronic kidney disease, including those who require chronic dialysis or transplantation.

The renal care center is one of the largest comprehensive pediatric dialysis units in the United States offering acute and chronic dialysis therapies. The specialized staff offers peritoneal dialysis, hemodialysis, continuous renal replacement therapies, kidney biopsies, and plasmapheresis for infants, children and adolescents. In order to maximize health and quality of life, the renal care center is one of three pediatric programs who train qualifying pediatric patients to perform hemodialysis at home using NXSTAGE Portable Dialysis Machine.

In conjunction with the Division of Transplantation Surgery at UAB, the Division of Nephrology is one of the largest pediatric kidney transplant programs in the country. Multi-center studies determine the optimal immunosuppression therapy to maximize long-term outcomes for children with kidney transplantation.

The research and clinical interest of the division are broad. The division participates in multi-center studies on drug discovery/ pharmacokinetics, assessment, progression and treatment of chronic kidney disease in children. Dr. Daniel Feig is division director and is an internationally recognized expert in hypertension in children who has research interests in the mechanisms of early onset and obesity related hypertension as well as mechanisms of hypertensive target organ damage. Dr. Sahar Fathallah, is the medical director of the Pediatric Dialysis Program works in concert with maternal / fetal medicine, neonatology, and pediatric urology to care for children with congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urologic tract. Dr. David Askenazi studies the impact, outcomes and non-invasive biomarkers in premature and asphyxiated critically ill infants who develop acute kidney injury. 

Faculty & Staff Division Director

Daniel Feig, M.D., Ph.D., M.S.

Faculty List

Nephrology Faculty

Staff

Nursing Staff

Gwen Gardner, RN; Administrative Director of Transplant ServicesVeronica Starks, RN; Renal Clinic CoordinatorJennifer Wilson, RN; Inpatient Case ManagerLeslie Ann Hallmark, RN; Inpatient Case ManagerLinda Lancaster, RN; Renal Biopsy CoordinatorMary Jane Gillum, CRNP; Renal ClinicJessica Edmondson, CRNP; Renal ClinicChristy Taylor, Nurse Clinician; Renal ClinicJan McGriff, Nurse Clinician; Renal ClinicAmanda O'Hara, Nurse Clinician; Renal ClinicCindy Richards, RN; Renal Transplant CoordinatorPaige Perry, RN, BSNKari (Karlene) Pietsch, RN; Renal Transplant CoordinatorKara Short, CRNP; Renal Clinic

General Renal/Dialysis Social Worker: Emily Wells, MSW, LICSW

Renal Transplant Social Worker: Wanda Hawkins, MSWOutpatient General Renal Dietician: Michelle Jeffcoat, RD

Inpatient General Renal and Renal Transplant Dietician: Janelle Schirmer, RD

Dialysis Dietician: Perrin Bickert, RDTransplant Child Life: Crawford Daniel, CCLS

Dialysis and Inpatient Child Life: Chelsea Brown, CCLS

Clinical Research Nurse: Lynn Dill, RN, BSN

Clinical Research Nurse: Susan Keeling, RN

Renal Care Center

Suzanne White, RN, BSN, CPN – ManagerWendy Shirley, RN, BSN, RNC-NICJessica Stephenson, RN, BSNAmanda O'Hara, RN, BSNJessica Simmons, RN,Angela Locklar, RN, MSN, NNPAndrea Darnell, RN, BSNAllison York, RN, BSNJennifer Cornelius, RNRebekah Sims, RN, BSN, CPNBrittany Funchess-Wilson, RNDaryl Ingram, RN, BSN, CDNCatherine Gurosky, RNCynthia Rogers, RN, BSN, CDNStacia Patrick, RN, MSNDorothy Dorsey – Administrative Assistant

Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship Program

The Pediatric Nephrology fellowship program at the UAB has been in existence for over 20 years. We are housed in a Level 1 trauma center dedicated to the care of children. We accept 1 fellow per year who joins fellows from 17 other divisions.

The first year of fellowship concentrates on clinical training with intensive research training in the second and third years. Elective rotations consist of pathology, urology, and interventional nephrology. Available research collaborations across UAB encompass basic science, adult nephrology, and pediatric nephrology.

Additional program training resources include the possibility of obtaining a Masters in Public Health, a State-of-the-Art Simulation Center located within our institution, the UAB Institute of Personalized Medicine, the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute, Health Disparities Research Center, and the Pediatric and Infant Center for Acute Nephrology (PICAN). Upon program completion, our fellows are prepared clinically in all aspects of Pediatric Nephrology.

Division Research Activities

Nephrotoxic Injury Negation by Just-in-time Action (NINJA)

The Genetic Contribution to Drug Induced Renal Injury: The Drug Induced Renal Injury Consortium (DIRECT)

Physiology of Early Essential Hypertension     

Genetics of Renal Cystic Disease

Role of Vasculature in Chronic Kidney Transplant Dysfunction                                 

Prevention of Sickle Cell Nephropathy

Pharmacogenomics of Immunosuppressives and Anti-Hypertensives (Personalized Medicine Initiative)

"I am investigating the performance of novel urine and serum biomarkers for identifying subclinical kidney transplant rejection and comparing this to the current screening standard of serum creatinine with the hopes of having higher confidence in the NPV of the novel markers, ultimately preventing unnecessary screening biopsies should they prove quiescent. A secondary aim is to evaluate the performance of these biomarkers in true biopsy proven rejection to see if they became elevated earlier than creatinine in the disease course in the hopes of perhaps prompting earlier for cause biopsies for elevation of these markers alone to catch rejection sooner and act upon it." - Kyle Deville, M.D., Second Year Fellow

Recent Publications

Neutral pH and low-glucose degradation product dialysis fluids induce major early alterations of the peritoneal membrane in children on peritoneal dialysis. Kidney Int. 2018; 94(2):419-429. [PMID 29776755] (Fathallah)

Acute kidney injury, fluid overload, and outcomes in children supported with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for a respiratory indication. ASAIO J. 2019. [PMID 31045919] (Askenazi)

CYP3A5 genotype affects time to therapeutic tacrolimus level in pediatric kidney transplant recipients. Pediatr Transplant. 2019; e13494. [PMID 31124575] (Yanik, Seifert, Feig)

CYP3A5 genotype affects time to therapeutic tacrolimus level in pediatric kidney transplant recipients. Pediatr Transplant. 2019; e13494. [PMID 31124575] (Yanik, Seifert)

Furosemide response predicts acute kidney injury in children after cardiac surgery. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2019. [PMID30745052] (Webb)

Associate Program Director

Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship Directors' Message

We are excited by your interest in our nephrology fellowship program!

Our training program is open to applicants who have completed a pediatric residency at an ACGME accredited program. We offer a rich educational experience in a friendly collaborative learning environment.

During clinical training, fellows rotate through our inpatient care teams: the Renal Inpatient Service, the Renal Consult Service, and the Critical Care Nephrology Service. In addition to standard renal replacement therapies, Texas Children's is one of the few pediatric centers to offer MARStm therapy for patients with intoxications or complications of liver failure. The solid organ transplant program at Texas Children's Hospital is one of the busiest in the nation, offering kidney, liver, heart, lung, and combined organ transplantation, which gives our fellows ample opportunity to participate in all aspects of transplant care.

In the ambulatory setting, trainee education is largely based at the Texas Children's Renal Clinic, with additional educational opportunities in dedicated multidisciplinary clinics such as Lupus Clinic, Renal Genetics Clinic, Stone Clinic, Preventive Cardiology Clinic, Hypertension Clinic, and the Fetal Center. Education in the care of patients with ESRD occurs in our hospital-based chronic dialysis unit; in-center hemodialysis, as well as home-based peritoneal and hemodialysis therapies, are offered. Trainees are expected to participate in all aspects of ESRD care including patient care conferences, plan of care meetings, and monthly dialysis quality meetings.  Although not required, trainees have the opportunity for advanced education in Apheresis, which is provided at Texas Children's by the Renal Service, including plasma exchange, red cell exchange, leukocyte reduction, photopheresis, as well as peripheral stem cell and leukocyte collections.

Structured didactics include the Fellows' College, a weekly faculty-led core curriculum, case-based presentations, clinical care conferences, and a wide range of multidisciplinary conferences: renal rheumatology conference, pathology conference, uroradiology conference, fetal conference, among others. Faculty, both internal and external to the division, as well as trainees are expected to be engaged and active participants in all aspects of the educational process. All first-year fellows participate in an intensive two week "Boot Camp" in preparation for clinical care, which includes didactics, hands-on technical orientation to dialytic care, team building with nursing and allied health care providers, and simulation activities.

Scholarly activity by trainees is an essential and integral part of the fellowship program. Research opportunities available within the division are focused on renal genetic disorders, chronic kidney disease, glomerular disease, end-stage renal disease, acute kidney injury, and renal replacement therapies. The division is actively involved in national and international research collaboratives including CKID, CureGN, CARRA, SCOPE and the Pediatric Nephrology Research Consortium. Fellows are encouraged to participate in these ongoing research initiatives. During the second year of training, all our fellows complete a quality improvement project under the guidance and mentorship of the division's director of quality and patient safety.  For trainees with specific basic science research interests, mentors and training opportunities are available throughout the Texas Medical Center. Advanced degree opportunities in education, clinical research, public health, and epidemiology at affiliated institutions of higher learning in the medical center are also available.

---