Skip to Main Content

Whitney Besse, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Nephrology)
DownloadHi-Res Photo

Contact Info

Yale School of Medicine

Dept. of Internal Medicine, Section of Nephrology, PO Box 208029

New Haven, CT 06520

United States

About

Titles

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Nephrology)

Biography

Dr. Besse received her bachelors degree in Biomedical Engineering from Brown University in 2003, pre-doctoral training in genetics at the Joslin Diabetes Center at the Harvard Medical School, her M.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in 2009, and clinical training in Internal Medicine/Nephrology at Yale. Dr. Besse joined Yale School of Medicine faculty in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Nephrology in 2019. Her research training in Nephrology has been under the mentorship of Dr. Stefan Somlo, C.N.H Long Professor of Medicine (Nephrology) and Professor of Genetics.

Dr. Besse's field of research interest is genetic kidney diseases, with initial focus on polycystic kidney disease. She uses genetic approaches to identify novel disease genes for dominantly inherited polycystic kidney and liver diseases: a phenotypic spectrum from autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) to isolated polycystic liver disease (PCLD), and both in vitro and animal models to further disease gene mechanism investigation. Her identification and investigation of multiple genes has contributed understanding to how the central PKD protein, Polycystin-1, matures through the endoplasmic reticulum. She has contributed approaches for gene validation to the field. Dr. Besse has an active research program recruiting patients with genetically unresolved polycystic kidney and/or liver disease or other inherited kidney diseases for projects involving gene/pathway discovery and variant analysis in genetic kidney diseases. The goal of her lab is to have the identification of novel disease genes serve as an entry point for molecular biology investigation that contributes to a better understanding of disease mechanism and the identification of successful targets for treatments.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Yale School of Medicine (2018)
Clinical Fellow, Research Track
Yale School of Medicine (2015)
Resident
Yale School of Medicine (2012)
MD
University of Connecticut School of Medicine (2009)
BS (Hon)
Brown University, Biomedical Engineering (2003)

Research

Overview

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Exome Sequencing; Genetics; Health Care; Kidney Diseases; Polycystic Kidney Diseases; Polycystic Kidney, Autosomal Dominant

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Whitney Besse's published research.

Publications

Featured Publications

2024

2023

Clinical Trials

Current Trials

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    Yale Physician Associate Program

  • honor

    Young Physician-Scientist Award

  • honor

    Clinical Scientist Development Award

  • honor

    Mentored Research Award

  • honor

    Polycystic Kidney Disease Research Award

Clinical Care

Overview

Clinical Specialties

Nephrology

Fact Sheets

Get In Touch

Contacts

Appointment Number
Mailing Address

Yale School of Medicine

Dept. of Internal Medicine, Section of Nephrology, PO Box 208029

New Haven, CT 06520

United States

Administrative Support

Events

Oct 202418Friday
Oct 202425Friday
Nov 20241Friday
Nov 20248Friday