Robert Alpern, MD

Dr. Robert Alpern was appointed Dean of Yale School of Medicine in June 2004, continuing a career that has combined his interests in research, clinical practice and teaching. As Dean, he oversees one of the world’s leading institutions for biomedical research and advanced medical care.

Dr. Alpern attended college at Northwestern University, where he majored in chemistry. He received his MD degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and then received residency training in internal medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York. Following this, he was a post-doctoral fellow in nephrology in the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In 1982, Dr. Alpern joined the faculty at the University of California, San Francisco, and in 1987 he was recruited to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center as Chief of the Division of Nephrology. At Southwestern Dr. Alpern held the Ruth W. and Milton P. Levy, Sr. Chair in Molecular Nephrology and the Atticus James Gill, M.D. Chair in Medical Science. In July 1998 Dr. Alpern was appointed Dean of Southwestern Medical School and in June 2004, he moved to the Yale University School of Medicine to become the Ensign Professor of Medicine and Dean of the medical school.

A board-certified nephrologist, Dr. Alpern’s research has focused on the regulation of kidney transport proteins. In addition, Dr. Alpern has been highly committed to teaching and clinical medicine. In 2000 he was elected President of the American Society of Nephrology. He was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians and the Institute of Medicine and has served on the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.