Our Bureau
New Brunswick, NJ
Vikas Dharnidharka, a board-certified pediatric nephrologist and transplant specialist recognized nationally and internationally for his clinical expertise and clinical and translational research, will join Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School as the Henry Rutgers Professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics.
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.
He joins Rutgers University from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. For the past two years, he has co-led the National Institutes of Health-funded Washington University Pediatric Center of Excellence in Nephrology.
“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.
“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.”
“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.”
In his clinical practice, he provides highly specialized care to children and young adults with all types of kidney disease, with a particular focus on end-stage renal disease and kidney transplantation. He is frequently consulted internationally to advise with difficult complications of solid organ transplantation such as post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) and infections from Epstein-Barr or BK virus (a polyomavirus) nephrology.
Dharnidharka’s numerous awards and recognition include achievement awards from the American Society of Transplantation. He currently serves on the Governing Council for the International Pediatric Transplant Association, is past chair of the Section of Nephrology within the American Academy of Pediatrics and recently completed a four-year term on the Governing Council for the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology.
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.
Dharnidharka will join Rutgers and RWJUH in October.
