SER150 - Diabetic Nephropathy

Professor George Bakris

University of Chicago, IL, USA

George Bakris, MD, specializes in the diagnosis and reduction of high blood pressure, particularly in complicated and refractory cases. He is also skilled in the treatment of kidney disease, with special expertise in diabetes-related kidney disease. Dr. Bakris is an expert in the interpretation of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM), a technique that gives physicians a more accurate reading of a patient’s blood pressure.

In his research activities, Dr. Bakris explores why the rate of kidney disease is significantly higher in the black population than it is in other ethnic groups. He also evaluates specific markers of kidney disease progression and heightened cardiovascular risk, as well as how changes in the artery (central pressure) affect the heart and kidney.

Most recently, Dr. Bakris has served as the national principal investigator on two clinical trials: one trial involves renal denervation as a way to lower blood pressure in people with resistant hypertension; the other investigates a new polymer designed to lower potassium among those with kidney disease and persistently high potassium values.

Professor Hans-Henrik Parving

Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark

Dr. Hans-Henrik Parving (HHP) was born in Denmark in 1943. Attended The Medical School at the University of Copenhagen and graduated in 1969. In 1975 he defended his thesis ‘Microvascular permeability to plasma proteins in hypertension and diabetes in man – on the pathogenesis of hypertensive and diabetic microangiopathy’ (University of Copenhagen).

In 2005 HHP was knighted by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Trained at different university hospitals in Copenhagen (1969-1983), and specialised in internal medicine (1977) and in endocrinology (1984) at the University of Copenhagen. Chief physician at Steno Diabetes Center since 1983 -2006. Chief physician Department of Medical Endocrinology, National hospital, University of Copenhagen 2007-. Since 1997 appointed professor of diabetic vascular diabetic complications (personal chair) at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. Since 2010 appointed professor of diabetic complications (personal chair) at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

HHP has received several national and international awards including the prestigious Castelli Pedroli Prize awarded by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (1997), and the Novartis Award in Diabetes – long standing achievement (1999) to recognise his accomplishment in pathogenesis, early detection, prevention, and treatment of vascular complications of diabetes mellitus, the 2000 COZAAR Investigator Award for Renal Dysfunction. The American National Kidney Foundation International Distinguished Medal for 2001. Awarded the H.C. Hagedorn Prize 2002. Prof. M. Viswanathan Gold Medal Award (2003). The American National Kidney Foundation: Shaul G. Massry Distinguished Lecturer (2004). EU Award: “EUROPE et MÉDECINE” (2004). The Kroc- lecture, University of Washington, Seattle (2006). The Ruth Østerbye award- European Diabetic Nephropathy Study Group, Scotland 2007.

“The outstanding foreign investigator award”, the Japan society of diabetic complications, Japan 2008. The Bagger-Sørensen Award, Denmark 2010. The Belding H. Scribner Award, American Society of Nephrology, Denver, USA 2010. G.B.Morgagni Gold medal , Padua , Italy 2014. HHP has made important contributions to national and international post-graduate courses in diabetes. Since 1975 HHP has focused on studies on diabetic micro- and macroangiopathy. Twenty research fellows have defended their doctoral thesis (DMSc) from HHP´s  lab. 

HHP has published 586 papers.

Professor Kumar Sharma

University of Texas, San Antonio, TX, USA

Dr. Sharma’s research efforts have focused on the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease (DN). His laboratory helped define the central role of the cytokine Transforming Growth Factor-b (TGF-b) in DN using cell culture and animal models and translated these findings to the human condition. These studies contributed to the development of the highly innovative anti-fibrotic approaches that are currently being tested in clinical research trials under Dr. Sharma’s guidance. Recently, Dr. Sharma has focused his attention on the contribution of the kidney to cardiovascular disease in diabetes and obesity. His group was the first to describe the role of adiponectin on podocyte function. His group has also used novel proteomic methods for clinical applications and for kidney disease. The goal of his research efforts is to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for personalized medicine in diabetes complications and kidney disease.

Dr. Sharma has maintained a strong clinical practice with a focus on patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and kidney disease. He has conducted NIH-funded and industry supported investigator-initated clinical trials. He has a major interest in the development of clinical biomarkers of kidney disease progression.

Professor Peter Rossing

Peter Rossing is a clinician researcher devoted to complications in diabetes with focus on renal and cardiovascular complications. He obtained a specialist degree in internal medicine and endocrinology 2004. Since 2007 he has been a chief physician and manager of the Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen research team dedicated to the research of micro-and macrovascular complications of diabetes.
Since 2012 Professor in diabetic angiopathy at University of Copenhagen. Peter Rossing has in epidemiological studies investigated key features of the pathophysiology of the diabetic kidney at different stages. He has identified several markers for development of diabetic nephropathy; making it possible to predict the individual risk. He has been involved in several intervention studies in patients with overt diabetic nephropathy aiming at improving the prognosis.


He is coordinator of the EU FP7 project PRIORITY aiming to test if urinary proteomics can be used to stratify prevention of renal complications in type 2 diabetes, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation grant PROTON aiming at personalising prevention of diabetic nephropathy. 


He has co-authored >390 papers and his h-index is 65. He received the Minkowski prize in 2005 and the Golgi prize in 2016 both from the EASD and Edwin Bierman award from ADA in 2019. Past president of the Danish Endocrine Society, and of the European Diabetic Nephropathy Study group and chairman of the Danish National Diabetes Registry