James Nugent, MD, MPH

James Nugent, MD, MPH, is a pediatric nephrologist (kidney specialist) at Yale New Haven Children's Hospital and an instructor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine.

In his clinical work, Dr. Nugent sees patients in pediatric nephrology and in the primary care pediatrics clinic. Practicing both pediatric nephrology and general pediatrics, in addition to being an active researcher with a background in epidemiology, is the perfect fit for Dr. Nugent, who is interested in pediatric hypertension.

Dr. Nugent has developed a clinical research program around the evaluation of children with high blood pressure at the intersection between general pediatrics and nephrology.

“In nephrology, one of the most common referrals is high blood pressure. Historically, high blood pressure in children was thought to be due to kidney disease. With the obesity epidemic, the prevalence of hypertension in childhood has increased six-fold over the last 30 years,” he says. “Although all children with hypertension need to be evaluated for underlying kidney disease, most children with high blood pressure today have primary hypertension that is not due to the kidneys or another organ system. First-line management of high blood pressure in these children is focused on making healthy lifestyle changes to prevent the long-term effects of high blood pressure.”

Much of his work in nephrology is preventive care. “The most common cause of chronic kidney disease in children is a congenital anomaly of the kidneys or urinary tract that has been present since birth,” he says. “This doesn’t mean a child has end-stage kidney disease at birth, but they may have some kidney insufficiency. Our job is to preserve their kidney function as long as possible and prevent them from needing dialysis or a kidney transplant as long as we can. So, we focus a lot on prevention and on making lifestyle changes to optimize their kidney health.”

Dr. Nugent’s current research revolves around improving the detection of high blood pressure in children, including blood pressure monitoring methods that can work at home.

The son of an English teacher, Dr. Nugent says he loved writing and reading as a child and majored in English. “I love stories and science. I went into medicine because of the patient stories and the chance to help children through a difficult part of their narrative and help them reach their full potential,” Dr. Nugent says. “Every job I had was a camp counselor or something with kids, so to be a pediatrician and help kids thrive, while combining it with an intellectual challenge, energizes me.”

A positive person, Dr. Nugent says he enjoys getting to know his patients and encouraging them. “I love hearing about what is going on in school or what sports or activities they like,” he says.

Dr. Nugent completed his medical degree at Duke University School of Medicine. He completed a residency at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and then served as a general pediatrician in the U.S. Air Force before fellowship at Yale School of Medicine.