More Scientists Agree to Guide NephCure

Three prominent kidney researchers and a clinician whose teaching prowess helped shape many respected nephrologists have joined the NephCure Foundation in board positions.

“As NephCure moves into maturity, the addition of these distinguished physicians to our impressive base of intellects will aid our research-support initiatives and cement our role as a catalyst spurring progress in the war against idiopathic FSGS and Nephrotic Syndrome,” said a statement released by the NephCure Board of Directors.

Bernard S. Kaplan, M.D., Professor, Pediatrics and Medicine, and Director of Pediatric Nephrology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, was welcomed as a member of the NephCure Board of Directors by President Irv Smokler, Ph.D.

Bernard S. Kaplan, M.D.

The new members of the NephCure Scientific Advisory Board ( SAB) were announced by SAB Board Chairman Lawrence B. Holzman, M.D. They are:

Marilyn Gist Faraquhar, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California San Diego ; Karl Tryggvason , M.D., Ph.D., Professor at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden ; and Michelle P. Winn , M.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Nephrology and Assistant Research Professor, Section of Medicine Genetics, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center.

Marilyn Gist Farquhar, Ph.D.

Marilyn Gist Farquhar, Ph.D. is a cell biologist and experimental pathologist with a long-time interest in the molecular mechanisms of glomerular diseases. Her current research focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of glomerular diseases such as nephrotic syndrome. Among her awards are the Homer Smith Award of the American Society of Nephrology, the A. N. Richards award of the International Society of Nephrology, and the Wilson Award of the American Society of Cell Biology.

Karl Tryggvason, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Tryggvason, M.D., Ph.D., also is co-founder of BioStratum Inc. and NephroGenex. He and his team have characterized the structure and biology of basement membranes and identified the molecular basis of five genetic diseases, two of them kidney diseases. Recently, Dr. Tryggvason's group discovered the gene responsible for nephrotic syndrome. He is currently developing a gene therapy protocol to treat this disease. Tryggvason is the author of over 200 scientific publications and numerous patents.