The nephrology fellowship program at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and UTHSC offers a comprehensive curriculum in all aspects of clinical pediatric nephrology, including hypertension, chronic kidney disease, diabetic nephropathy, congenital anomalies of kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT), hereditary kidney diseases, acute kidney injury, glomerulonephritis, tubular diseases, kidney transplant, acute/chronic hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and continuous renal replacement therapy.
Our inpatient service covers both Le Bonheur and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which offers a unique experience in the onco-nephrology field. Our unique subspecialized clinics include the Tuberous Sclerosis Center of Excellence, newborn-renal clinic, sickle cell nephropathy clinic and hereditary kidney diseases clinic. All together the program offers a huge clinical exposure as well as focused clinical research opportunities for our fellows. Our program offers many opportunities for research.
The program is an active member of the Pediatric Nephrology Research Consortium (PNRC), Children’s Hospital Neonatal Consortium (CHNC), Neonatal Kidney Collaborative (NKC), North American Pediatric Renal Trials and Collaborative Studies (NAPRTCS) and Improving Renal Outcomes Collaborative (IROC). We have active National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for studies involving glomerular disease, tuberous sclerosis and innate immunity and sickle cell nephropathy. We are also in continuous collaboration with the University of Memphis and St. Jude which offers our fellows tremendous research pathways.
Research Interests
- Basic and clinical research to understand the fundamental underpinnings of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) renal disease
- Treatments to preserve renal function for vulnerable TSC population
- Neonatal nephrology
- Pathophysiology of sickle cell nephropathy
- APOL1 risk alleles and influence on the development kidney disease in patients with sickle cell anemia
- Application of engineering principles to nephrology with ongoing research in sensors
- Onco-nephrology research focusing on kidney involvement in patients with stem cell transplant and different types of cancers
- Hypertension
- IgA nephropathy and Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP)
- Multiple ongoing QI projects focusing on early detection of AKI; improving utilizations of ABPM for kidney transplant and CKD patients
Program Staff: Nephrology
Program Director
Associate Program Director
Dr. Delos Santos is a pediatric nephrologist and associate professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He was honored by the National Institutes of Health with the Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual National Research Service Award and is a member of the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology, National Kidney Foundation and American Heart Association Scientific Council on Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease.
