The Mount Sinai Division of Nephrology is dedicated to the advancement in the knowledge and understanding of renal disease, its development, the progression, treatment, and prevention. Our faculty is at the forefront of research and patient care in the field of Nephrology. We continue in the tradition of Alfred P. Fishman and Irving Kroop, who conducted the first hemodialysis in the United States at Mount Sinai in 1947. Our faculty include leading experts in basic and clinical research areas such as renal development, polycystic kidney disease, HIV-associated nephropathy, diabetic renal disease, hypertensive renal disease, gene therapy, transplantation, peritoneal dialysis, and hemodialysis. Our Division is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in patient care through the improvement of the understanding of disease processes and the development of new strategies in the treatment of individuals with renal disease.
The advancement of science is dependent upon a commitment to education. Our fellowship program is recognized nationally for its training. Our three-year fellowship program gives fellows the opportunity to acquire a solid training in the care of patients with renal diseases, and in basic or clinical research. Members of the faculty are nationally and internationally known for their teaching abilities in Nephrology. It is only through the education of subsequent generations advancement in medicine may be ensured.
Our clinical program is one of the largest in the region with a large dialysis program, a home dialysis program, and a transplant program performing both renal and pancreas transplants. The outcomes from each of these programs are excellent and above national averages. In addition, we provide state of the art care through our active consultative service for patients with renal disease, renal stones, and hypertension. We have initiated an Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitor service and a new program in Geriatric Renal Medicine, one of the only programs in the country. We aim to bring the latest advances in medical care to the bedside.
The Mount Sinai Division of Nephrology is devoted to patient care, scientific achievement, and medical education. It is our hope that through our efforts, and those of other like-minded nephrologists and scientists, that we may help stem the tide of the increasing burden of renal disease within the United States, and improve the care and outlook for those already affected.
Brief History
Following World War II, Wilhelm Kolff was invited to the The Mount Sinai Hospital from Holland to train physicians in the use of his newly developed artificial kidney. In 1948, the first successful hemodialysis in the United States was performed at Mount Sinai on a patient with acute renal failure.
In the 1950s, Dr. Marvin F. Levitt, who had trained with the father of modern Renal Physiology, Dr. Homer Smith, was asked to create a Postgraduate Training Program in Renal Disease at Mount Sinai. The Program initially focused its research on problems of fluid and electrolyte balance, renal hemodynamics, and the action of diuretics. Studies in man and animal were designed to analyze the pathophysiologic basis for a variety of common clinical conditions. As the Program evolved, micropuncture techniques were employed to study renal uric acid transport and the pathophysiology of acute renal failure.
Simultaneously, as dialysis approaches expanded, the Division led the development of innovations in the performance of CAVH, peritoneal and hemodialysis. Graduates of the Fellowship Program rose to national prominence as professors, division chiefs, heads of departments, including the Division of Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.
