J. Michael Lazarus Distinguished Award
Rajnish Mehrotra, MD, MS
University of Washington School of Medicine
This lectureship was established to honor Dr. J. Michael Lazarus for his major contributions to the clinical science and care of dialysis patients, and to recognize individuals whose research has yielded novel insights related to renal replacement therapy.
Rajnish Mehrotra, MD, MS, is the Belding H. Scribner Endowed Chair in Medicine and the Head of the Division of Nephrology at the Department of Medicine in the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. He is the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Northwest Kidney Centers.
He is a physician-scientist and his research and clinical work is focused broadly on improving the lived experience of people with advanced kidney disease. His research work, funded by both the NIH and PCORI, has advanced our understanding of the barriers to a greater use of home dialysis, biologic determinants of peritoneal dialysis, and clinical trials to test interventions for managing symptoms experienced by patients undergoing long-term dialysis. He has co-authored over 300 original research papers and book chapters.
Dr. Mehrotra completed his medical schooling at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi India, where he also underwent residency training. He received further residency training at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and nephrology fellowship training at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He obtained a Masters of Science in Clinical Research at the University of California, Los Angeles.
View press release here.

Dr. Mehrotra's research and clinical work is focused broadly on improving the lived experience of people with advanced kidney disease.
Past J. Michael Lazarus Distinguished Award Recipients:
- 2022: Daniel Weiner, MD, MS
- 2021: Kirsten Johansen, MD
- 2020: Laura Dember, MD
- 2019: Beth Piraino, MD
- 2018: Alan S. Kliger, MD
- 2017: Paul M. Palevsky, MD
- 2016: Ramesh Khanna, MD, FACP and Karl Nolph, MD
- 2015: Fredric Finkelstein, MD, FNKF
- 2014: Claudio Ronco, MD
- 2013: Bradley A. Warady, MD, FNKF
- 2012: Jonathan Himmelfarb, MD
- 2011: John Dauguirdas, MD