NKF to Honor Nephrologist and Educator, Dr. Melanie Hoenig

(Nov. 8, 2022, New York, NY) — The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has named Melanie Hoenig, MD, a Harvard Medical School educator and nephrologist, the 2023 winner of the prestigious Donald W. Seldin Award. The award was established to recognize excellence and dedication in nephrology research and education. NKF will honor Dr. Hoenig during this year’s NKF Spring Clinical Meetings, April 11-15, in Austin, TX.

“Dr. Hoenig has not only dedicated her career to educating the next generation of nephrologists but has worked to inspire undergraduate and medical students to come into the field,” said NKF President Sylvia Rosas, MD, MSCE. “She has been the course director for Renal pathophysiology at Harvard Medical School for more than a decade.  Her commitment to education will only help the patients in the future, with more experts, research, and treatments, and ultimately, cures.”

The award is named after Dr. Donald Seldon and was established to recognize excellence in the tradition of one of the foremost teachers and researchers in the field. The late Dr. Seldin is widely known as the intellectual father of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

“As a young trainee, I once heard Dr. Seldin speak and knew that I was in the presence of a remarkable physiologist and educator,” Dr. Hoenig said. “I could never imagine that I would someday win an award with his name. This is a true honor.”

This honor has another special meaning for Dr. Hoenig. Her mentor and the 2019 recipient of the Seldin Award, Dr. Jerry Yee passed away this year.

“He was my mentor and dear friend, and Dr. Yee was thrilled to win the Seldin award,” she said. “Jerry was passionate about the NKF, kidney physiology, mentorship, and education. I celebrate this award in his name as well.”

“Dr. Hoenig has not only dedicated her career to educating the next generation of nephrologists but has worked to inspire undergraduate and medical students to come into the field,” said NKF President Sylvia Rosas, MD, MSCE.

Dr. Hoenig is a nephrologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. She is the new editor for the Core Curriculum Feature of NKF’s American Journal of Kidney Diseases.  Dr. Hoenig learns and teaches with Channel Your Enthusiasm, a podcast book club exploring Burton Rose’s Clinical Physiology of acid base and electrolyte disorders. Dr. Hoenig recently served as the Chair of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry’s eGFR and Race Equity Task Force, which endorsed new eGFR formulas to estimate kidney function without race. Dr. Hoenig is the renal section editor for Knowledge +, and was the first editor of the Kidney Self-Assessment Program (KSAP), an American Society of Nephrology program to help nephrologists prepare for certification. Her clinical interests are kidney disease in the context of HIV and the transition to adult care for young people with kidney disease.

“I first joined the National Kidney Foundation when I completed my fellowship,” Dr. Hoenig said. “I discovered that I loved the camaraderie of working with providers with varied areas of expertise and from different hospitals and practices, locally and across the nation. NKF brings people together.”

NKF Spring Clinical Meetings

For the past 31 years, nephrology healthcare professionals from across the country have come to NKF’s Spring Clinical Meetings to learn about the newest developments related to all aspects of nephrology practice; network with colleagues; and present their research findings. The NKF Spring Clinical Meetings are designed for meaningful change in the multidisciplinary healthcare teams’ skills, performance, and patient health outcomes. It is the only conference of its kind that focuses on translating science into practice for the entire healthcare team.

About Kidney Disease

In the United States, 37 million adults are estimated to have kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney disease (CKD)—and approximately 90 percent don’t know they have it.  About 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. are at risk for kidney disease.  Risk factors for kidney disease include: diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and family history. People of Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian American, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease. Black or African American people are more than 4 times as likely as White Americans to have kidney failure.  Hispanics or Latinos are 1.3 times more likely than non-Hispanics to have kidney failure.

NKF Professional Membership

Healthcare professionals can join NKF to receive access to tools and resources for both patients and professionals, discounts on professional education, and access to a network of thousands of individuals who treat patients with kidney disease.  

About the National Kidney Foundation

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is the largest, most comprehensive, and longstanding patient-centric organization dedicated to the awareness, prevention, and treatment of kidney disease in the U.S. For more information about NKF, visit www.kidney.org.