William Asch, MD/PhD, BA
Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology)Cards
About
Titles
Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology)
Program Director, Transplant Nephrology Fellowship Program, Internal Medicine; Director of Pre-Transplant Operations, Internal MedicineBiography
My clinical, educational, administrative, and scholarly efforts are centered on solid organ transplantation. While the majority of this effort focuses on kidney transplantation, I provide subspecialty consultative services to the liver, heart, and bone marrow transplant programs. As the Transplant Nephrology Fellowship Program Director, I established the required policies, procedures, and documents required to establish this program. The program is accredited through the American Society of Transplantation. Yale is one of 62 accredited programs in the US. Approved by the Yale Office of Graduate Medical Education, The Yale Transplant Nephrology Fellowship Program has graduated 6 fellows. My scholarly activities range from an Investigator-Initiated Research project investigating the neurocognitive impairments associated with tacrolimus, the cornerstone immunosuppressant used to prevent rejection in solid organ transplant recipients. The favorable proof of concept results (confirming that clinicians can perform a high level cognitive assessment in the clinic setting using the NIH-Tool Box Cognitive Battery) and pilot data have led to this project expanding into 16 site multicenter trial (The ABCs Trial). In addition, I am the Principal Investigator for pharmaceutical sponsored clinical trials on immune tolerance, BK viremia, and delayed progression of diabetic kidney disease.
Appointments
Nephrology
Associate Professor on TermPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Internal Medicine
- Kidney Transplant Program
- Liver & Pancreas Transplant Program
- Nephrology
- Yale Medicine
- Yale Ventures
Education & Training
- Fellow
- Yale University School of Medicine (2008)
- Resident
- Yale-New Haven Hospital (2004)
- MD/PhD
- SUNY at Stonybrook (2001)
- BA
- Brandeis University (1993)
Research
Academic Achievements and Community Involvement
Teaching & Mentoring
Mentoring
Arun Chutani
Postdoc2023 - 2024Arundati Rao, MBBS
Faculty2022 - PresentPriyanka Jethwani MBBS
Postdoc2021 - 2022Zubair Saeed Zafar MD
Postdoc2020 - 2021
Clinical Care
Overview
William Asch, MD, PhD, is a nephrologist who focuses on kidney transplantation and says he enjoys the challenge of a complicated case.
“I really like the puzzle of trying to figure out what is going on with a patient who has complex problems and helping them,” Dr. Asch says. “There is nothing more gratifying than taking someone who has been on dialysis for six weeks, six years, or 13 years and giving them a new kidney and seeing their life transform in the best of ways.”
Growing up, Dr. Asch says he pretty much knew he wanted to become a doctor. “I remember having profound respect for our family physician and seeing a microscope in his office and being really interested in that,” he says. “I was very interested in physics in high school but then settled into biological sciences with a focus on physiology in college.”
In addition to his medical degree, Dr. Asch has a doctorate degree in molecular biology, which ended up being a good fit at Yale, given the medical school’s strong history in laboratory-based nephrology research.
“For me, kidney transplantation is a great pairing of my interests in lab work, physiology, and physics,” he says. “And what I love is that there is an overlap with so many different fields that make my job so fascinating. Transplant nephrologists aren’t in a vacuum. We work closely with colleagues from infectious diseases, cardiology, and many other specialties.”
An active researcher, Dr. Asch is exploring the underappreciated neurocognitive impairment associated with tacrolimus, an immunosuppressant medication. “It’s challenging to study, but we have an eye on the possibility that some of our newest drugs might not have that same negative impact on cognition,” Dr. Asch says.
Clinical Specialties
Fact Sheets
Liver Transplant
Learn More on Yale MedicineKidney Transplant
Learn More on Yale MedicinePediatric Kidney Transplant
Learn More on Yale MedicineLiving Donor Organ Transplantation
Learn More on Yale Medicine
Board Certifications
Nephrology
- Certification Organization
- AB of Internal Medicine
- Latest Certification Date
- 2016
- Original Certification Date
- 2006
Internal Medicine
- Certification Organization
- AB of Internal Medicine
- Latest Certification Date
- 2015
- Original Certification Date
- 2004