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William Asch, MD/PhD, BA

Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology)
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Additional Titles

Program Director, Transplant Nephrology Fellowship Program, Internal Medicine

Director of Pre-Transplant Operations, Internal Medicine

About

Titles

Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology)

Program Director, Transplant Nephrology Fellowship Program, Internal Medicine; Director of Pre-Transplant Operations, Internal Medicine

Biography

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 Term
    Primary

Other Departments & Organizations

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

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of William Asch's published research.

Publications

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

Clinical Trials

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    American Journal of Transplantation

  • activity

    Transplantation

  • activity

    Journal of Onco-Nephrology

  • activity

    Clinical J. of the American Society of Nephrology

  • activity

    American Society of Transplantation

Teaching & Mentoring

Mentoring

  • Arun Chutani

    Postdoc
    2023 - 2024
  • Arundati Rao, MBBS

    Faculty
    2022 - Present
  • Priyanka Jethwani MBBS

    Postdoc
    2021 - 2022
  • Zubair Saeed Zafar MD

    Postdoc
    2020 - 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

Nephrology

Fact Sheets

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

Yale Medicine News

Get In Touch

Contacts

Academic Office Number
Appointment Number
Clinic Fax Number

Administrative Support

Locations

  • Yale Nephrology

    Academic Office

    Boardman Building

    330 Cedar Street, Ste Suite 117

    New Haven, CT 06510

  • Patient Care Locations

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