Jonathan Himmelfarb, MD

Jonathan Himmelfarb, MD, FASN, FAIMBE, FRCP (he/him) is a Professor of Medicine and the inaugural Co-Director of the Center for Kidney Disease Innovation (CKDi) in the Department of Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine of Mount Sinai. The CKDi is a multidisciplinary translational research center focused on advancing innovative treatments for kidney diseases through discovery science, patient engagement, and clinical trials.

Prior to joining the Icahn School of Medicine of Mount Sinai in 2024, Dr. Himmelfarb was the founding director of the Kidney Research Institute at the University of Washington from 2008 – 2022. At the University of Washington, he also co-founded the Center for Dialysis Innovation. He is well-known for his contributions to nephrology and kidney disease research innovation, including his work on the development of a portable, wearable artificial kidney, designed to give people more freedom and flexibility when compared to traditional dialysis. Dr. Himmelfarb has been an NIH-funded investigator for over 30 years and is currently leading research on kidney-on-a-chip systems for acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease, as well as serving as the Steering Committee chair for the Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP), and principal investigator for the KPMP Central Hub and Kidney Mapping Atlas Project.

Dr. Himmelfarb has authored over 400 publications with an H-index over 100 and 50,000+ citations. He is the first and only North American managing editor of the Oxford Textbook of Clinical Nephrology (4th edition) and was recently invited to join the editorial team for the 5th edition.

Dr. Himmelfarb is a prominent leader in nephrology, with significant roles in a variety of national and international organizations. He has been a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine Subspecialty Board on Nephrology, a Councilor of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and was President of the ASN in 2014-2015. He has served on expert panels for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Veterans Health Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other organizations. Dr. Himmelfarb has served on numerous editorial boards including the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN), Kidney International, BMC Medicine, Nature reviews Nephrology, the Faculty of 1000 in Medicine, and the Faculty of 1000 in Research. In 2015, he was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine, which is part of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). In 2021, he was honored with the Belding H. Scribner Lifetime Achievement Award from ASN for his groundbreaking contributions to the field. He also received the U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award Gold Medal in 2022.

Dr. Himmelfarb earned his medical degree from George Washington University Medical School. He completed his residency at Maine Medical Center and a nephrology fellowship at Brigham Women’s Hospital and Maine Medical Center.