The Division of Nephrology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine was directed by John H. Sadler, MD, from 1972-1994. Since 1994, Matthew R. Weir, MD, has been the Director of the Division. In this time, the program has grown from eight to 28 faculty members and six volunteer faculty members. Abdolreza Haririan, MD, MPH, is the Vice Chief of the Division and the Medical Director of Transplantation.  

The clinical program includes an active outpatient practice where we see patients with kidney diseases of all types at several practice sites, including the University of Maryland Medical Center, located at both the Downtown and Midtown campuses, as well as the Baltimore VA Medical Center.

Clinical Programs

Our clinical program has several specialty practices where patients can be referred for specific expertise. These include:

Onconephrology

Specializing in patients with genitourinary cases or those with kidney injury related to chemotherapy for cancer.

• George Bonifant, MD
• Tihanna Premuzic, MD

Pregnancy-related Kidney Disease

Specializing in advice for women planning to get pregnant who have kidney disease or hypertension, and for those women who have pregnancy-related complications with blood pressure or kidney disease.

• Sarah Kahn, MMBS

Kidney Disease Associated with Diabetes

Specializing in clinical management strategies to slow progression of kidney disease.

• Jagman Chalal, MD
• Simran Dhillon, MD
• Matthew Weir, MD

Kidney Disease in Patients with Congestive Heart Failure and Pulmonary Hypertension

Specializing in guideline based medical therapy to improve clinical outcomes in patients with heart and kidney disease.

• Neil Agarwal, MD
• Ami Patel, MD

Glomerular Kidney Disease

Specializing in the management of all forms of proteinuric kidney disease.  The program also includes opportunities to utilize novel therapies to improve clinical outcomes

• Pretti Chandra, MD

Kidney Stones

Specializing in the prevention of forming new kidney stones, or the treatment of current kidney stones

• Donna Hanes, MD

Complicated Hypertension

Specializing in the care and control of blood pressure in patient with resistant or refractory hypertension, and those patients with secondary forms of hypertension.

• Donna Hanes, MD
• Matthew Weir, MD

Acute kidney Injury

Specializing in the care of patients who have sustained acute kidney injury, so as to prevent further loss of kidney function.

• Matthew Weir, MD

Comprehensive Medical Care for Recipients of Transplants

Specializing in the management of immunosuprression, chronic kidney disease, and the complications associated with transplantation in patients with kidney, pancreas, liver, lung, and heart transplants.

• Abdolreza Haririan, MD
• Roberto Kalil, MD
• Hiba Ahmed, MD
• Ujwal Gautam, MD
• Amit Singh, MD
• Mohamed Ibrahim, MD
• Richard Ugarte, MD
• Emily Daniel, MD
• Matthew Weir, MD

Kidney Care in Veterans

Specializing in all levels of care including: blood pressure, mineral bone disease, anemia, cognitive function and nutrition.

• Stephen Seliger, MD
• Ahsan Ejaz, MD

Polycystic Kidney Disease and Adult Genetics Clinical Program

• Terry Watnick, MD
• Stephen Seliger, MD

Kidney biopsies are done at both clinical sites, and we have close interaction with our two Nephropathologists at these sites. We manage patients with end-stage renal disease, including both hemo and peritoneal dialysis. We have affiliations with DaVita Fresenius, Concerto and the Independent Dialysis Foundation.

The division participates in a large multi-organ transplant program and has multiple services within both the University of Maryland Medical Center, both of the downtown and midtown campuses, the Baltimore VA Medical Center, and the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.

Research

The Division also has several research centers including: The Baltimore Center for the study of Polycystic Kidney Disease, and The Kidney Research Center directed by Terry Watnick, MD, the Early Renal Insufficiency and Safe Kidney Programs, directed by Jeffrey C. Fink, MD, MS., and the Transplant Clinical Research Program, directed by Abdolreza Haririan, MD, MPH, in conjunction with Director of the Research for the Department of Surgery, Jonathan Bromberg, MD, PhD.

The Division currently has 10 active NIH grants, including the PKD Center (both as coordinating center and clinical care center), the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study, APOL1 Long-term kidney transplantation Outcomes network (APOLLO), (REACH) Reaching Equity for transplantation and donor outcomes in Adults and Children, Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonism Clinical Evaluation in Atherosclerosis (MAGMA), Caring for (COPE-AKI) outpatients after Acute Kidney Injury, and (REACH-DART) Understanding barrier to home dialysis and re-transplantation following graft failure in Black and Hispanic Kidney transplant recipient. The division also has more than two dozen foundation, industry, and investigator-initiated grants.