Vikas Dharnidharka joining Rutgers medical school as new pediatrics chair

Vikas Dharnidharka, an internationally recognized Indian American pediatric nephrologist and transplant specialist, will join Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School as the Henry Rutgers Professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics in October.

Dharnidharka also will serve as physician-in-chief of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital (BMSCH) at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, according to a media release.

He joins Rutgers University from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and St. Louis Children’s Hospital, where he was the Alexis F. Hartmann Sr., MD Endowed Professor of Pediatrics, vice chair for clinical investigation in the Department of Pediatrics and professor and chief of its division of pediatric nephrology, hypertension and apheresis.

For the past two years, he has co-led the National Institutes of Health-funded Washington University Pediatric Center of Excellence in Nephrology.

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“Dr. Dharnidharka is a nationally recognized leader in nephrology, pediatrics and transplantation, and we are thrilled to welcome him as our new chair of the Department of Pediatrics,” said Amy P. Murtha, dean of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “His dedication to advancing healthcare through seminal research and superior clinical care will be invaluable to our community and the broader field.”

“Rutgers Health, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and RWJBarnabas Health have been in the midst of an amazing transformation to create a powerhouse academic health system for the state of New Jersey and beyond. With the visionary system leadership already in place, the potential to make a difference is so great,” said Dharnidharka.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to direct the RWJMS Pediatrics Department to be the academic flagship; we want to be among the very best nationally,” he added. “I also look forward to working with the team at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital and RWJBarnabas Health leadership to help advance children’s healthcare throughout all our health system locations across the state.”

“If you look at the sum total of all the areas pediatrics touches and components that touch pediatrics – the Rutgers Cancer Institute, the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, BMSCH, the Pediatric Clinical Research Center – all of these are really exciting partners and provide a great opportunity to enhance and expand pediatric services and help improve children’s health care across the state,” Dharnidharka said. “I’m looking forward to working with the dean and all the leaders across these institutions. We want to be a proud partner in elevating the stature of these programs and be an integral part of the exciting transformation that’s occurring across the board.”

A noted researcher whose work has been consistently funded by the National Institutes of Health for the past two decades, Dharnidharka has led studies resulting in numerous novel observations on risk factors for BK polyoma virus nephropathy and biomarkers in acute and chronic organ rejection after transplantation, according to the release.

His work has contributed to advances in the understanding of the incidence, risk factors for, and outcomes after PTLD, as well as knowledge of the complications of over-immunosuppression after organ transplantation.

An author of hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and 21 book chapters, he also is the lead editor of both editions of the only book on post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders.

Dharnidharka’s numerous awards and recognition include achievement awards from the American Society of Transplantation; the National Kidney Foundation of Eastern Missouri, Arkansas and Southern Illinois’ Award of Excellence; the American Nephrologists of Indian Origin’s Academic Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award; and, most recently, Washington University Dean’s Impact Award in recognition of his sponsorship and mentorship.

Dharnidharka received his medical degree from Topiwala National Medical College, Bombay University, in India, a master’s in public health with a concentration in biostatistics from the University of Florida College of Public Health and an Advanced Postgraduate Program in Clinical Investigation, also at the University of Florida.

He completed pediatric residency training at BYL Nair Hospital and Topiwala National Medical College, and subsequently at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Wayne State University, with fellowship training in pediatric nephrology at Children’s Hospital (Boston) and Harvard Medical School.