Nephrology and Hypertension

Members of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension provide compassionate, state-of-the-art care for patients with acute and chronic kidney disease. Our Division is at the forefront of research and discoveries that advance our understanding of kidney disease and its prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. We are dedicated to training physicians in the best practices in pediatric nephrology. 

Clinical Services 

The Division has four full-time and one part-time faculty members and provides comprehensive care for a wide range of kidney conditions. We have designated medical directors for our dialysis program and kidney transplantation program. The Division’s dedicated interdisciplinary team includes physicians, two nurses, a medical assistant, a dietitian, and a social worker who are all fully committed to caring for children with kidney disease and supporting them and their families through education and other resources.  

Research 

The Division currently receives NIH funding for basic science, clinical, and translational research. Our broad research areas encompass cell biology of kidney tubular response to ischemic injury or urinary tract obstruction, pathogenesis of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease, observational studies in glomerular disease, gene discoveries for congenital anomalies of the kidney and urology tract, and genetic studies for chronic kidney disease. We have ongoing and fruitful collaborations with precision medicine, adult nephrology, pathology, and neonatology. The knowledge we derive from this work will serve as the basis of future therapies for kidney disease. 

Education 

The Division is heavily invested in educating future generations of pediatricians and pediatric nephrologists. Since 2012, we have been one of the most popular subspecialties for medical student and resident rotations. Over the past eight years, two of our fellows were named Fellow of the Year, and one faculty member was voted Attending of the Year by pediatric residents at Columbia/NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. Through the Nephrology Fellowship program, we train pediatric nephrologists to achieve high competence in patient care, renal research, and education. The program emphasizes hands-on learning and didactic teaching, and through a rigorous curriculum, fellows learn to diagnose and treat children with a wide spectrum of acute and chronic kidney diseases. One of the current fellows received 2-year NIH funding for clinical research under the U2C/TL1 program.   

Honors, Awards, Committees, Presentations/Invited Lectures 

• Rushelle Byfield, MD, MSCE 
  • Poster Presentation, May 2024: Pediatric Academic Societies, "Home Blood Pressure Monitoring in Adolescents and Young Adults, NHANES 2009-2014" 
  • Oral Abstract, Sept 2024: American Heart Association Hypertension Sessions: "Ambulatory Blood Pressure Variability, Progression of  Kidney Disease, and Cardiovascular Outcomes in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort" 
  • Invited Speaker, Sept 2024: Columbia Medicine CME 12th Annual Challenges In Hypertension: "Hypertension in Children & Adolescents" Nov 2024: American Heart Association Scientific Sessions: "Pecha Kucha: Future is Now - What is the Best Way to Reduce Blood Pressure Among Patients with Uncontrolled Hypertension?"  
  • Committees: Chair-Elect, American Heart Association, Council on Hypertension, Hypertension & Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease Committee 
  • Member, American Heart Association, Council On The Kidney In Cardiovascular Disease, Membership Committee 
  • Co-Chair, American Society of Pediatric Nephrology, Pathology Webinar Committee 
• Hilda Fernandez, MD 
  • Invited Presentation, 06/2024 “Hereditary Kidney Disease” Open Medical Institute, Salzburg, Austria 
  • Invited Presentation, 06/2024 “Kidney Transplant Basics and Updates” Open Medical Institute, Salzburg, Austria 
  • Invited Presentation, 06/2024 “Renal Replacement Therapy: Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis” Open Medical Institute, Salzburg, Austria 
  • Invited Presentation, 06/2024 “Chronic Kidney Disease” Open Medical Institute, Salzburg, Austria 
  • Invited Presentation, 02/2024 “Transition of Care from Adolescence to Adulthood” Pediatric Grand Rounds, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY 
  • University Presentation, 09/2024 “Transplant in ADPKD” Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center 
  • University Presentation, 03/2024 “Reducing Disparities for Kidney Transplantation in Hispanic/Latino Communities” Department of Surgery, Columbia University Medical Center 
  • University Presentation, 02/2024 “IgA Vasculitis” Department of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center 
  • Continuing Medical Education, July 2024 Point of Care Ultrasound for Nephrologists - CME Course Co-Director, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 
  • Invited Poster Presentation, Gurusinghe S, Fernandez HE, Mahajan R, Lytrivi ID, Uy NS. “The Association of Proteinuria and Hypertension with Chronic Kidney Disease among Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients” Poster Presentation at the Pediatric Academic Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, CA, May 2024