World Congress of Nephrology

Two Yale physician-scientists were honored with major awards in the field of kidney research at the World Congress of Nephrology meeting in Singapore in June.

Steven C. Hebert, M.D., the chair and C.N.H. Long Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and professor of medicine, and Stefan Somlo, M.D., FW ’91, the C.N.H. Long Professor of Medicine and chief of the Section of Nephrology, are being recognized for important discoveries.

Hebert will receive the A.N. Richards Award, which carries a $10,000 cash prize, from the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) for three discoveries in the field of ion transport and ion sensing. Somlo will share the Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize for Advancement in the Understanding of Polycystic Kidney Disease for his work in discovering genes that cause polycystic kidney and liver diseases. Somlo and co-recipient Gregory G. Germino, M.D., HS ’87, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine will receive $50,000 each from The PKD Foundation and the ISN.

A third Yale nephrologist, Walter F. Boron, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cellular and molecular physiology, has been selected to receive the Homer W. Smith Award, the American Society of Nephrology’s top honor for basic research. The award, which carries a $10,000 cash prize, will be presented at the society’s annual meeting in November in Philadelphia.