A team of faculty and fellows from the Division of Kidney Disease and Hypertension at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) were the highest-scoring group in the 2019 NephMadness Tournament. Hosted by the American Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD), 1,393 nephrology teams from around the world competed in this year’s competition.
The tournament is modeled after the NCAA Tournament, but instead of basketball teams, 32 hot topics in nephrology are pitted against each other. Each topic is introduced through a scouting report written by an expert in the field. Based on the two scouting reports, teams must decide which topic is more important and has the most potential to transform nephrology. A blue-ribbon, nine-person panel of experts selects who will move on to each round. The results of each round are announced on Twitter and the AJKD Blog. First and foremost, NephMadness is an evidence-based learning initiative – participants receive CME credit as they learn about the latest and greatest breakthroughs in the field.
“Fellows in GW’s Division of Kidney Disease and Hypertension are the best and brightest. They are trained by outstanding faculty with a passion for education,” said Dominic Raj, MD, director of the Division of Kidney Disease and Hypertension and professor of medicine at SMHS. “Our team did not succeed by accident, but by willingness to work, driven by desire to learn and excel in patient care through dedication and innovate through patient centered research.”
The following fellows participated in the competition:
- Hasan Iftikhar, MD
- Sonia Nasery, MD
- Faizan Babar, MD
- Kevin Fu, MD
- Esmeralda Primeaux, MD
Fellows in the Division of Kidney Disease and Hypertension are led by Scott Cohen, MD, associate professor of medicine at SMHS. The division also benefits from the leadership of Manuel Velasquez, MD, Professor Emeritus of Medicine at SMHS, and support from Samir Patel, MD, associate professor of medicine at SMHS and physician at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Ravinder Wali, MD, a clinical professor of medicine at SMHS and physician at INOVA.
“Our division performed the first lifesaving dialysis in 1956 in Washington, D.C.,” said Raj. “We have embraced the tripartite mission of GW and we aspire to preeminence in research, education, and patient care globally. Indeed, the faculty have been invited across the world and acclaimed as opinion leaders in research, patient care and policy.”
