Ajay Israni, MD, MS

Dr. Israni brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in kidney disease and kidney transplantation to his new role. He earned his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry with Highest Honors from Rutgers College at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He earned his M.D. from the New York University School of Medicine in 1995 with Honors in Genetics. He has been American Board of Medicine certified since 2001. Dr. Israni completed his Internal Medicine residency at Boston University School of Medicine and Chief Residency at Boston City Hospital. He then completed his Nephrology fellowship and Masters in Clinical Epidemiology at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Prior to joining UTMB, Dr. Israni was a transplant nephrologist at the University of Pennsylvania and then at Hennepin County Medical Center. He was a Professor of Medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center, University of Minnesota. His work included managing kidney disease patients, particularly kidney transplant patients. He was also the President of the Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute with an annual budget of over $50 million. He has also served as the Medical Director of the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients in Minnesota, a multi-million-dollar contract to track outcomes on all solid organ transplant recipients in the United States. Dr. Israni has been recognized for his contributions to medical research. He has been the Principal Investigator of several R01 grants from the several federal agencies. He has received multi-million-dollar grants and contracts from the National Institute of Allergy and Immunology, National Institute of Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Agency for Health Research and Quality, and the Health Resources and Services Administration focused on improving results of kidney transplantation and improving the lives of patients with end stage kidney disease. He has published over 200 manuscripts based on his research. His goal is to contribute to excellent patient care of kidney disease patients, especially kidney transplant recipients. He also plans to engage in research that improves outcomes of kidney transplant recipients and improve access to transplantation.