Saint Louis University Doctor Honored by National Kidney Foundation

New York, NY, April 3, 2018 — Krista L. Lentine, M.D., Ph.D., has been selected by the National Kidney Foundation as the recipient of the foundation’s Dr. Shaul Massry Distinguished Lecture.

 

Dr. Lentine’s research and advocacy have been crucial to the development of new standards that advance a defensible system of practice for living kidney donation.

 

“Dr. Lentine’s work significantly improves the evaluation, selection and informed consent of living donors through enhanced tools for tailored risk assessment, and advocacy for transparent risk disclosure and shared decision-making,” said Michael Choi, M.D., president and chair of the NKF Scientific Advisory Board. “Her work shaped a new international guideline as well as U.S. policies for living donor care.”

 

This lectureship was established to honor Dr. Shaul G. Massry for his scientific achievements and his contributions to the kidney health care community and to the National Kidney Foundation.

 

The award will be made to Dr. Lentine at the NKF 2018 Spring Clinical Meetings, to be held April 11-14 in Austin, Texas, where she will be presenting the Shaul Massry Distinguished Lecture, “Balancing Risk and Autonomy in Living Kidney Donation — A New Framework for Shared Decision Making,” on Wednesday, April 11.

 

Dr. Lentine is a professor of medicine and is the medical director of living kidney donation at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. She is a clinical scientist whose work is grounded in novel integration and application of national registries, administrative claims data, and other electronic health information to address topics in transplant epidemiology, outcomes, economics and policy. 

 

In addition to her other leadership, Dr. Lentine has twice directed the NKF Spring Clinical Meetings transplant physicians’ program and kidney transplant course.

 

“It is difficult to express how privileged and humbled I feel to receive this award. Shaul Massry is a giant in the field of nephrology and I’m deeply honored to stand in the company of so many esteemed colleagues and past recipients,” said Dr. Lentine. “I believe the award committee’s choice this year extends beyond my work in itself, to recognize and honor the vital importance of supporting and advancing the care of living organ donors as life-giving heroes.”  

                            
Dr. Lentine has served as chair of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/ United Network for Organ Sharing Living Donor Committee, and as co-chair of a Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes work group and is first author of the group’s 2017 guideline publication. She is also a steering committee member of the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients Living Donor Collective; a member of the American Society of Nephrology Quality Committee; and a member of the American Society of Transplantation Living Donor Community of Practice Executive Committee. 

 

For the past 27 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. 

 

Thirty million American adults are estimated to have chronic kidney disease — and most aren’t aware of it. One in three American adults are at risk for chronic kidney disease. Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and family history. People of African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian or Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease. African Americans are three times more likely than whites, and Hispanics are nearly 1.5 times more likely than non-Hispanics to develop end stage renal disease (kidney failure).