Tag Archive for: Pediatric Nephrology

colored illustration of kidney x-ray

Partnership with CMS and HRSA addresses national kidney shortage

colored illustration of kidney x-ray

Children’s National Hospital is proud to announce that it is participating in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA)’s new End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices Learning Collaborative (ETCLC). This effort will focus on addressing kidney disease prevention and treatment, including improved access to kidney transplants in the United States.

The ETCLC will engage transplant centers, Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs), large donor hospitals, patients and donor family members to identify highly effective practices currently in use and spread the use of these practices throughout the organ procurement, kidney care and kidney transplant community to achieve the following three AIMs:

  • AIM #1: Increase the number of deceased donor kidneys transplanted
  • AIM #2: Decrease the current national discard rate of all procured kidneys
  • AIM #3: Increase the percentage of change for kidneys recovered for transplant in the 60-85 Kidney Donor Profile Index score group

The ETCLC brings the potential for collaboration, communication and innovation across geography into reality. By participating in the ETCLC, Children’s National will benefit by:

  • the creation of efficiencies and reduction of duplicative efforts in kidney patient care
  • exposure to new, innovative ideas regarding the kidney transplant process
  • the enhancement of communication and relationship building within the kidney care community
  • the application of substantive changes to improve the donation and transplantation system
cystic kidney disease

American Heart Association grant funds study of vascular complications in ADPKD

cystic kidney disease

Ashima Gulati, M.D., Ph.D., pediatric nephrologist at Children’s National Hospital recently was awarded a grant from the American Heart Association. Dr. Gulati’s work will aim to identify the genetic determinants of vascular complications in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD).

Cerebrovascular complications such as vascular aneurysms and anomalies are an important cause of morbidity in ADPKD that need to be studied. The goal of Dr. Gulati’s research is to contribute to knowledge towards using molecular medicine to inform individual genetic risk of clinically significant vascular complications in ADPKD.

This work addresses a clinically significant vascular complication in ADPKD, the most common inherited form of kidney failure world-wide.

Connecting allied health professionals in pediatric nephrology

With the meeting in Washington this year, Children’s National Health System will be the local host, a distinct honor for an academic medical center that treats hundreds of nephrology patients each year, says pediatric Nephrologist Asha Moudgil, M.D., who directs Children’s kidney transplant service.

Pediatric nephrology is a relatively small specialty worldwide, encompassing just a few hundred doctors in the U.S. For each allied health field that provides collaborative care with these physicians – including nutrition, child-life, psychology and social work – the numbers of providers are even smaller. There are no national meetings for these individual subspecialty fields and no venues to meet new like-minded colleagues or learn about new research or protocols.

Six years ago, the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology (ASPN) aimed to help resolve this dilemma by launching a new multidisciplinary symposium that brings together allied health professionals of all kinds within pediatric nephrology.

Each year, the “ASPN Multidisciplinary Symposium” changes locations, allowing the meeting to target different regional groups of allied health professionals based on geography. With the meeting in Washington this year, Children’s National Health System will be the local host, a distinct honor for an academic medical center that treats hundreds of nephrology patients each year, says pediatric Nephrologist Asha Moudgil, M.D., who directs Children’s kidney transplant service.

There are multiple advantages to having the symposium in Washington, Dr. Moudgil explains. One is access to Children’s experts in this field, who have a wealth of experience in managing issues that affect patients who live in the greater Washington area. For example, the keynote address scheduled for the meeting’s opening night will be delivered by Jennifer Verbesey, M.D., Children’s surgical director of pediatric kidney transplantation, focusing on living donation in minority populations. Living kidney donors and recipients who are minorities have unique issues that can affect organ longevity, explains Dr. Moudgil, which may not be well known by all clinicians.

Children’s speakers also focus prominently in the main session on the second day, including:

  • Angela Boadu, RD, LDN/LD, a registered dietitian, and Kaushalendra Amatya, Ph.D., a psychologist, are giving a talk about nutrition and the psychosocial aspects of obesity
  • Surgeon Evan Nadler, M.D., director of Children’s Bariatric Surgery Program, is speaking about bariatric surgery before and after transplantation
  • Nurse Practitioner Christy Petyak, CPNP-PC, and Social Worker Heidi Colbert, LICSW, CCTSW, NSW-C, are leading breakout sessions about the practical aspects of immunosuppressive therapy and resources for uninsured patients
  • Amatya, the Children’s psychologist, also is leading a breakout session on internalizing psychological disorders in pediatric renal patients and
  • Registered Dietitian Kristen Sgambat, Ph.D., RD, and Dr. Moudgil are co-leading a breakout session on nutritional challenges and enteral supplementation in chronic kidney disease.

Another advantage to holding the meeting in the nation’s capital is its close proximity to government research and federal regulatory agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Speakers from both agencies will be present, talking about how the FDA approves medicines for pediatric patients and offering details about the NIH’s rare disease program.

Besides the abundance of more formal knowledge-sharing, Dr. Moudgil adds, there will be plenty of opportunities for attendees to network, making connections within and outside their own respective fields.

“This is a platform for making long-term professional relationships,” Dr. Moudgil says. “Even if you’re the sole clinician representing your specialty at your own institution, you’ll be able to connect with other specialists at institutions across the country. You’re not only acquiring new information, you’re acquiring a group of colleagues you can connect with this year and those professional relationships can extend far into the future.”

A close-up of Dr. Marva Moxey Mims at Children's National.

Children’s National welcomes Marva Moxey-Mims, M.D., renowned nephrologist, as incoming Division Chief

A close-up of Dr. Marva Moxey Mims at Children's National.

Marva Moxey-Mims, M.D., a leading expert in chronic kidney disease and glomerular disease who has conceptualized and overseen multicenter clinical studies aimed at improving chronic kidney disease treatment, has been named Chief of Pediatric Nephrology at Children’s National Health System.

Dr. Moxey-Mims comes to Children’s National from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health where she served as Deputy Director for clinical science and oversaw a research portfolio that included clinical trials for kidney disease and genitourinary dysfunction in adults and children. As Pediatric Nephrology Division Chief, Dr. Moxey-Mims plans to add new staff and restructure a division already ranked among the nation’s leaders by U.S. News & World Report in order to carve out dedicated time for research and improve care for children with kidney disease.

”Children’s National is honored to welcome Dr. Moxey-Mims as the new leader for our talented nephrology team,” says Robin Steinhorn, M.D., senior vice president of the Center for Hospital-Based Specialties. “She brings unparalleled expertise in this field, is a member of a number of influential national committees and has authored more than 90 scientific publications, including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Under her guidance, Pediatric Nephrology at Children’s is well-positioned to continue to lead the nation in clinical care and research.”

“I want to inspire the division,” Dr. Moxey-Mims says. “I want the faculty to be happy in their work here and to look forward to coming to work every day. I want them to have enough time to pursue their academic interests, so clinicians not only continue to provide excellent patient care but also can conduct research. All of the staff has potential projects in mind; it’s just a matter of finding the time to do them.”

From a pragmatic standpoint, Children’s pediatric nephrologists will start with what is feasible: Continuing and expanding current cross-disciplinary research projects.

“There are some research projects that will be important to pursue, but we just don’t have the building blocks in place right now to move in that specific direction,” Dr. Moxey-Mims says. “However, continuing ongoing collaborations with our colleagues in neonatology, oncology, hematology and urology are reasonable places to start. I agree with the cliché that success breeds success. If we have an established collaboration and can build on it, that is how we start expanding our research enterprise.”

To that end, the division is in the early stage of joining an existing consortium that is studying four types of glomerular disease, conditions caused by varying mechanisms that often lead to kidney failure. “Information that is gathered will inform care going forward,” she says. “Part of what is being done in these studies is obtaining a better understanding of how disease progresses in different groups of children and adults and quantifying the impact of varying treatment approaches. It’s very exciting for Children’s National to be a new player in this.”

Dr. Moxey-Mims received her undergraduate degree from McGill University in Montreal and her medical degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She completed her pediatric residency and clinical pediatric nephrology training at Children’s National and from 1994 to 1999 worked at Children’s National as a staff nephrologist.

“Returning to Children’s has been a wonderful homecoming,” Dr. Moxey-Mims says. “I wanted to return to the hospital setting and have direct exposure to patients. I missed that. In this new role, I can participate in patient care, as well as foster an environment that spurs even more research. It’s really the best of both worlds.”