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Kumar Sharma, MD, FAHA, FASN

Contact

210-567-4700

sharmak3@uthscsa.edu

Departments & Divisions

Institutes & Centers

Kumar Sharma, MD, FAHA, FASN

Chief of the Division of Nephrology and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine

Hillis Chair and Vice Chair of Research

Director of Center for Renal Precision Medicine

Kumar Sharma, M.D., is the chief of the Division of Nephrology and vice chair for research in the Department of Medicine.

Dr. Sharma was professor of medicine and director of the Center for Renal Translational Medicine and director of the Institute of Metabolomic Medicine at the University of California San Diego.

His research explores the mechanisms and treatment of diabetic nephropathy. Dr. Sharma has several National Institutes of Health-funded projects including a DP3: Type 1 diabetes targeted research award of $6 million to identify novel paradigms in diabetic complications, more than $3 million from the JDRF to identify novel biomarkers in an international cohort of studies in Type 1 diabetes and more than $3 million for the Animal Models of Diabetic Complications Consortium and novel clinical trials in diabetic nephropathy from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. He serves on numerous study sections and is a standing member of the NIH Pathology of Kidney Disease study section.

He plays a lead role in the NIH Kidney Precision Medicine program, and UT Health San Antonio will be the national hub for analysis of spatial metabolomic profiles of kidney tissues.

As vice chair for research, Dr. Sharma will oversee the creation of a mentoring program for young investigators, the implementation of pilot programs and the organization of research themes across the department.

  • Professional Background

    Education

    • 1985 - MD - Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
    • 1981 - BA - Biology - Boston University, Boston, MA

    Training

    • 1994 - Clinical and Research Fellowship - Nephrology - University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA

    Highlights

    08/2017-present           Professor, Division Chief of Nephrology, University of Texas Health San Antonio

    08/2017-present           Vice Chair, Research Department of Medicine, UTHSA

    08/2017-present           David L. Hillis Endowed Distinguished Chair in Medicine, UTHSA

    06/2018-present           Director, Center for Renal Precision Medicine, UTHSA

    2020   Governor’s Chronic Kidney Disease Task Force, Texas

     

    Appointments

    • 04/2018-Present - Member of Institutional Core Committee - UTHSA
    • 02/2020-present - Chief, Search Committee for Division Chief in Endocrinology - UTHSA

  • Research & Grants

    1. Precision medicine for kidney disease
    2. Precision health care delivery systems for diabetes, obesity and CKD
    3. Systems biology approaches for chronic disease
    4. Novel therapies for progressive kidney disease
    5. Mitochondrial function in health and disease
    6. Cytokine signaling in diabetic kidney disease

    Grants

    NIDDK, UG3-UH3 DK114920 Tissue Interrogation Site for Kidney Precision Medicine Project, 07/01/2017-06/30/2022
    NIDDK, RFA-DK-16-028 Central Hub for Kidney Precision Medicine Project (PI: Himmelfarb, J, Co-I: Sharma), 07/01/2017-06/30/2022
    CDMRP PR181598 Multi-Omics and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Acute Lung Injury (PI: Sharma), 2019-2022
    VA Merit Award, Novel Mechanisms of Renal Injury, (PI: Sharma), 2016-2020
    NIDDK, R24DK0824841-07 (PI: Feldman UMichigan, Subcontract to UCSD, PI: Sharma) Integrated Systems Biology Approach to Diabetic Microvascular Complications, 2016-2021
    NIDDK, RO1 DK110541-01, (PI: Natarajan UCSD, Co-I: Sharma), Developing and Validating Prognostic Metabolomic Signatures of Diabetic Kidney Disease, 2017-2022
    JDRF Network Grant: Discovery and Validation of Prognostic Biomarkers of Renal Function Decline in Type 1 Diabetes, (PI: Sharma), 2015-2020
    New Zealand, DUNEDIN Study of Aging in New Zealand Population, (PI:Poulson, New Zealand) (Subcontract to UCSD, PI:Sharma), 2016-2021
    80/20 Foundation Award: Precision Metabolic and Molecular Mechanisms of Low Carbohydrate and Ketogenic Diet (PI: Sharma), 2020-2022

  • Publications

      Han X, Shi Y, Diamond-Stanic M, Sharma K. Role of Mitochondria in the Regulation of Kidney Function and Metabolism in Type 2 Diabetes. Chapter 12 in Mitochondria in Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, edited by Béatrice Morio, Michel Rigoulet and Luc Pénicaud, published by Elsevier. In press, 2019.

      Bhattarai M, Madesh M, Sharma K. Oxidative Stress and Anti-Oxidants. Chapter in Seldin and Giebisch’s The Kidney: Physiology & Pathophysiology, 6th Edition, edited by Robert Alpern, Orson Moe, Michael Caplan, and Susan Quaggin. For 2020.

  • Clinical

    Board Certifications

    • American Board of Internal Medicine