Above: Orlando Gutiérrez, MD, MMSc, Professor and Director in the Division of Nephrology
Orlando Gutiérrez, MD, MMSc, will become the director of the UAB Division of Nephrology, effective October 1, 2021. Dr. Gutiérrez is Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and the Hilda B. Anderson Endowed Chair in Nephrology. He currently serves as Associate Division Director and Deputy Director of UAB’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). Dr. Gutiérrez will build UAB’s extraordinary programs in nephrology and kidney science on the remarkable foundation developed under the leadership of Anupam Agarwal, MD.
Dr. Gutiérrez has provided novel insights in understanding the progression of kidney disease and bone disorders in patients with kidney failure. His research focuses on the relationships between disturbances in mineral metabolism and clinical outcomes, the reciprocal relationships between disturbances in mineral and iron metabolism in individuals with chronic kidney disease, and the role of nutrition in the development and progression of metabolic complications related to kidney injury. The NIH currently supports Dr. Gutiérrez as PI or Co-PI in six projects, including mentored patient-oriented research in cardiovascular and kidney disease and the effects of sodium intake and excretion on blood pressure in African Americans with obesity.
Dr. Gutiérrez was part of the group that first showed that fibroblast growth factor 23 is strongly associated with early mortality among people starting hemodialysis, possibly because of its effects on phosphate balance (N Engl J Med 2008; 359: 584-592). He recently co-authored the first book that focuses on fibroblast growth factor 23 with fellow UAB kidney scientist, Dr. Christian Faul. Dr. Gutiérrez also discovered that greater urinary albumin excretion is associated with earlier onset of coronary heart disease in Black individuals when compared to White individuals, suggesting that Black individuals are more susceptible to vascular injury (JAMA 2013; 310: 706-714).
Dr. Gutiérrez graduated from John Carroll University and received his medical degree from the University of Toledo College of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine, nephrology, and clinical research at the Massachusetts General Hospital and received a Master’s in Medical Science from Harvard Medical School. He served as Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami before joining UAB in 2011.
Dr. Gutiérrez will succeed Anupam Agarwal, MD, who has provided exemplary leadership in this role for more than 13 years. During Dr. Agarwal’s tenure, the Division more than doubled its number of faculty and saw significant growth in its clinical programs and NIH funding. Dr. Agarwal will assume expanded responsibilities in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine as Executive Vice Dean, and he will continue to direct the NIH/NIDDK funded O’Brien Center for Acute Kidney Injury Research.