Hypertension Scientific Sessions 2025

Presentation Title: Immune Mechanisms of Hypertension
Session: 02. Keynote Lecture
When: Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, 9:10 a.m. to 10:10 a.m.

David Harrison is the Betty and Jack Bailey Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University. He obtained his M.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma and received internal medicine and cardiology training at Duke University. He performed a research fellowship at the University of Iowa Cardiovascular Center from 1980 to 1982. In 1982, he joined the faculty at Iowa where he remained until 1990, when he moved to Emory University. While at Emory, he served as Director of the Cardiology Division from 2000 to 2009. In 2011, Dr. Harrison moved to his current position at Vanderbilt.

Dr. Harrison has received substantial recognition for his research contributions. He has received the Basic Science Distinguished Achievement Award from the Basic Science Council of the American Heart Association, the Novartis Award from the High Blood Pressure Council of the AHA for outstanding hypertension research in 2004. He was awarded the Carl J. Wiggers Award of the Cardiovascular Section of the American Physiological Society in 2010. In 2010 he also received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Heart Association. In 2012, he received the Irvine Page Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Society of Hypertension. He is the recipient of the 2018 Basic Science Prize from the American Heart Association.

Presentation Title: Insights into Acute Kidney Injury and Transition to Chronic Kidney Disease Revealed by Multiomic and Spatial Technologies
Session: 01. Opening Remarks and Keynote Lecture
When: Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

Dr. Benjamin Humphreys received his AB from Harvard college and his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Case Western Reserve University as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program. He trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and in nephrology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he subsequently joined the faculty. Dr. Humphreys is Chief of the Division of Nephrology and the Joseph Friedman Professor of Renal Diseases in Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. He is past president of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, one of the nation’s oldest medical honor societies.

In 2021, he joined the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a unit of the NIH. An internationally recognized investigator in kidney injury, fibrosis, organoids and regenerative medicine, current efforts in his laboratory focus on single cell multi-omics and spatial transcriptomics as approaches to understand and sub-phenotype human kidney disease.

Presentation Title: Kidney Metabolism and its Role in Hypertension
Session: 23. Keynote: Council on Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease Past Chair Lecture
When: Sunday, Sept. 8, 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Dr. Alexander (Sasha) Staruschenko is a Professor and Director of the Hypertension and Kidney Research Center at the University of South Florida. His research focuses on the mechanisms controlling ion channels and electrolyte homeostasis in blood pressure regulation and kidney diseases. Funded by the NIH, VA, AHA, and others, he has published over 180 peer-reviewed papers in top nephrology and hypertension journals.

Dr. Staruschenko has mentored numerous students, postdocs, and junior faculty, earning national recognition through over 100 invited talks and awards from the American Heart Association, American Physiological Society, and American Society of Nephrology. Dr. Staruschenko is an active member of several national societies and contributes significantly to their activities. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals, including his role as Deputy Editor of Am J Physiol: Renal Physiol. He has chaired the KCVD Council and served on the Leadership Committees for both the KCVD and Hypertension Councils. Additionally, he has been a chair, standing member, and ad hoc reviewer for numerous study sections, including those for the NIH, VA, DOD, ADA, AHA, and various international agencies.