David M. Hume Memorial Award

Katalin Susztak, MD, PhD

Professor of Medicine and Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania and Founding Director of the Penn–CHOP Kidney Innovation Center

The David M. Hume Memorial Award was created in memory of one of the National Kidney Foundation's most distinguished members. The Hume Award is the highest honor given to a distinguished scientist-clinician in the field of kidney and urologic diseases. It is bestowed upon an individual who exemplifies the high ideals of scholarship and humanitarianism in an outstanding manner.

Dr. Katalin Susztak is Professor of Medicine and Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania and Founding Director of the Penn–CHOP Kidney Innovation Center. Her research has transformed nephrology by revealing genetic and molecular mechanisms that drive kidney disease and by translating those discoveries into precision therapeutics.


She made transformative contributions to deciphering the genetic basis of kidney disease, by leading the largest genome‐wide association study of renal function, and by constructing the first kidney‐specific functional atlas integrating a wide variety of genetic data from healthy and diseased human and rodent kidney samples. Her mechanistic studies demonstrated that the proximal tubule plays a crucial role in kidney disease development, where impaired fatty‐acid metabolism, and ferroptotic stress drive functional decline. Dr. Susztak also established the causal role of APOL1 gene variants—found exclusively in individuals of African ancestry—in chronic kidney disease and its complications. She engineered the first inducible APOL1 transgenic mouse models and elucidated downstream inflammatory pathways crucial in disease development, catalyzing the first clinical trials of APOL1 inhibitors.


As architect of the TRIDENT consortium—a twenty‐two–site public–private partnership—she integrated genetic analyses, proteomics, longitudinal biopsies, and multiplexed assays to forecast kidney‐function decline up to three years before clinical onset. With over 250 peer‐reviewed publications, nearly 40,000 citations, an h-index above 80, and top lifetime‐achievement honors—including the ASN Homer W. Smith Award and the ISN Alfred Newton Richards Award—Dr. Susztak’s work has earned global acclaim for advancing medical science and improving patient outcomes.

Dr. Katalin Susztak has revolutionized kidney disease research by uncovering its genetic roots and pioneering precision therapies that are transforming patient care.

Past David M. Hume Memorial Award Recipients:

  • 2025: Bradley A. Warady
  • 2024: Martin Pollak, MD
  • 2023: Alfred Cheung, MD
  • 2022: Susan T. Crowley, MD, MBA, FASN, FNKF
  • 2021: Paul Whelton, MB, MD, MSC
  • 2020: Josephine Briggs, MD
  • 2019: Neil Powe, MD
  • 2018: Glenn M. Chertow, MD
  • 2017: Richard J. Johnson, MD
  • 2016: Sharon Anderson, MD
  • 2015: Josef Coresh, MD, PhD, MHS
  • 2014: Friedrich K. Port, MD, MS, FACP
  • 2013: Tomas Berl, MD
  • 2012: Andrew S. Levey, MD, FNKF
  • 2011: Jeremy Chapman, MD
  • 2010: John Sedor, MD
  • 2009: Brian J.G. Pereira, MD, MBA
  • 2008: Lawrence Hunsicker, MD
  • 2007: William G. Couser, MD
  • 2006: Frank L. Delmonico, MD
  • 2005: Charles B. Carpenter, MD
  • 2004: John Stewart Cameron, MD
  • 2003: Franklin H. Epstein, MD
  • 2002: Barry M. Brenner, MD
  • 2001: William E. Mitch, MD
  • 2000: [No Award]
  • 1999: Neil A. Kurtzman, MD
  • 1998: Jared J. Grantham, MD
  • 1997: Thomas E. Andreoli, MD
  • 1996: Edmund G. Lowrie, MD
  • 1995: Joseph W. Eschbach, MD
  • 1994: Wadi N. Suki, MD
  • 1993: Joel D. Kopple, MD
  • 1992: Saulo Klahr, MD
  • 1991: Prof. August Heidland
  • 1990: Richard J. Glassock, MD
  • 1989: Prof. Priscilla Kincaid-Smith
  • 1988: Shaul G. Massry, MD
  • 1987: Robert W. Schrier, MD
  • 1986: Robert Heptinstall, MD
  • 1985: Willem J. Jolff, MD
  • 1984: Charles R. Kleeman, MD
  • 1983: Robert W. Berliner, MD
  • 1982: Prof. Hugh E. de Wardener
  • 1981: Donald W. Seldin, MD
  • 1980: George E. Schreiner, MD