Christine Bakhoum, MD, MAS

Christine Bakhoum, MD, is a pediatric nephrologist who says she was drawn to specializing in kidney disease because of its complexity.

“Nephrology is a lot of complex physiology and continuity of care with patients. I love being able to see a child with kidney disease through dialysis to transplant and watching them grow and flourish,” she says. “I enjoy walking parents through things step by step, as a lot of what I do is chronic disease and it can be overwhelming.”

Chronic kidney disease in children is progressive, and children are at high risk for cardiovascular diseases, Dr. Bakhoum says. “They will eventually need dialysis and a transplant, and to lessen their risk for cardiovascular disease and other problems, we try to modify the progression of the disease,” she says. “Because blood pressure causes more rapid progression, we make sure our children can accurately measure and control it. We want to optimize how that is done at home and in the clinic.”

When she’s talking with families. Dr. Bakhoum says she makes a point to explain things as best as she can and to lay out various options. “A lot of these situations are challenging and I like to show families what the journey ahead looks like, letting them know that our entire team, from doctors to social workers to nurses to dietitians will be with them the whole way,” she says.

“I love the moment when things get better for a child, when we’ve all been working together on the big picture and things click suddenly and things are going well.”

Dr. Bakhoum’s research focuses on optimizing blood pressure measurement and management in children with kidney disease.