Organization profile
Organization profile
Division chief: Nasrollah Ghahramani, MD, MS
Division overview: The Division of Nephrology at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is a leader in providing quality medical care to the central Pennsylvania community and beyond, advancing care through innovative research and training tomorrow’s doctors and scientists.
The division consists of clinical faculty members, basic scientists, advanced practice providers, clinical fellows and administrators. It offers clinical care in the inpatient and outpatient settings to patients with a variety of kidney diseases. In addition to general nephrology clinics, clinical providers see patients in specialized clinics focused on glomerulonephritis, hypertension, metabolic stone diseases, transplantation and early chronic kidney disease. The division provides all types of dialysis in approximately 10 dialysis units in the region.
The division’s education programs include undergraduate summer research programs, pre-clinical and clinical medical student courses, graduate medical training for residents and subspecialty training for nephrology fellows. The Nephrology Fellowship prepares the trainee for clinical or academic adult nephrology. The program also trains clinician-scientists to become competitive clinical researchers. Clinical training covers a full array of experiences in acute and chronic kidney diseases through inpatient consultation service, and outpatient clinics. Fellows gain expertise in hemodialysis, chronic peritoneal dialysis and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT and CRRT/MARS), as well evaluation and follow-up of kidney transplant recipients and donors.
The division’s faculty members are recognized for their laboratory and clinical research into the causes and treatments of kidney disease, as well as various types of patient-oriented research. Current topics of specific interest include mechanisms underlying renal fibrogenesis; natural history of acute kidney injury; peer-led mentoring program for patients with chronic kidney disease and their caregivers; and geographic disparities in kidney disease management.
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Profiles
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Muhammad Abdulbasit, MD
- Department of Medicine - Assistant Professor
- Division of Nephrology
Person: Academic
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Umar Farooq, MD, MS
- Department of Medicine - Associate Professor
- Division of Nephrology
- Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center - Interim Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
Person: Academic
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Margaret Fitzsimons, MBChB
- Department of Medicine - Assistant Professor
- Division of Nephrology
Person: Academic
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Nasrollah Ghahramani, MD, MS
- Department of Medicine - Professor
- Division of Nephrology - Chief
- Department of Public Health Sciences - Professor
Person: Academic
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Amanda Karasinski, MD
- Department of Medicine - Assistant Professor
- Division of Nephrology
Person: Academic
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Fareeha Khalil, MD
- Department of Medicine - Assistant Professor
- Division of Nephrology
Person: Academic
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Ling Lin, MD, MS
- Department of Medicine - Assistant Professor
- Division of Nephrology
- Department of Cell and Biological Systems - Assistant Professor
Person: Academic
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Rafael Portela Colon, MD
- Department of Medicine - Assistant Professor
- Division of Nephrology
Person: Academic
Research output
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Cover Image
Matarneh, A., Sardar, S., Abendroth, C., Salvatore, S., Vasekar, M., Rosenbaum, E., Gutgarts, V., Ghahramani, N. & Trivedi, N., Mar 2026, In: Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 21, 3Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Cystatin C in chronic kidney disease: enhancing diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes
Patel, S., Dhalani, M., Reddy, M., Ruhela, N., Jain, R. & Kaur, G., 2026, In: Postgraduate medicine. 138, 2, p. 136-145 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Impact of telomere length alteration in chronic kidney disease patients of Pakistan: a case–control study and meta-analysis of 24,089 patients
Tahir, M., Liaquat, A., Khalil, F., Tariq, Z., Javed, A., Irfan, A. & Khan, M. J., 2026, In: Acta Clinica Belgica: International Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Medicine. 81, 3, p. 195-213 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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The Prevalence, Mechanisms, and Clinical Significance of Inferior Vena Cava Compression in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study Based on TriNetX
Matarneh, A., Matarneh, B., Akkari, A., Sardar, S., Salameh, O., Verma, N. & Ghahramani, N., Jan 2026, In: Medicina (Lithuania). 62, 1, 230.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
The risk of kidney disease increases following SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to influenza
Zhang, Y., Ghahramani, N., Chinchilli, V. M. & Ba, D. M., Dec 2026, In: Communications Medicine. 6, 1, 189.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Scopus citations -
Unexplained Elevated Cell-Free DNA in a Kidney Transplant Patient With Stable Clinical Parameters: A Case Report and Literature Review
Matarneh, A., Sardar, S., Salameh, O., Hollis, J., Ryan, S., Peters, T., Abendroth, C., Karasinski, A., Trivedi, N., Ghahramani, N. & Shah, V., Mar 2026, In: Transplantation proceedings. 58, 2, p. 307-313 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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A comprehensive systematic review of pharmacological and non-pharmacological depression interventions for patients on dialysis
Cho, A., Tran, T., Telfer, L., Matarneh, A., Sardar, S. & Ghahramani, N., Jan 1 2025, In: SAGE Open Medicine. 13Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access -
Aortic valve calcium as a novel risk marker for kidney function deterioration: The MESA study
Abdollahi, A., Sani, M. M., Shabani, M., Matuck, B. S., Blaha, M. J., Wu, C. O., Ambale-Venkatesh, B., Budoff, M. J., Strom, J. B., Rotter, J. I., Post, W. S., Blumenthal, R. S., Bluemke, D. A., Ghahramani, N., Lima, J. A. C. & Whelton, S. P., Jun 2025, In: European Journal of Internal Medicine. 136, p. 49-55 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Barriers and facilitators of integrating telemedicine services into routine kidney transplant patient care: a scoping review of qualitative research
Khosravi, F., Khosravi, M., Behzadifar, M., Arabzadeh, M., Tabrizi, R., Ghahramani, N. & Shahabi, S., Dec 2025, In: Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition. 44, 1, 309.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Scopus citations -
Beyond creatinine: diagnostic accuracy of emerging biomarkers for AKI in the ICU–a systematic review
Matarneh, A., Akkari, A., Sardar, S., Salameh, O., Dauleh, M., Matarneh, B., Abdulbasit, M., Miller, R., Verma, N. & Ghahramani, N., 2025, In: Renal Failure. 47, 1, 2556295.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access7 Link opens in a new tab Scopus citations
Projects
- 4 Finished
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p90 Ribosomal S6 Kinase and Chronic Kidney Disease
Hu, K. (PI)
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
8/10/14 → 5/31/21
Project: Research project
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Comparing Three Ways to Improve Quality of Life for Patients with Kidney Disease and Their Caregivers
Ghahramani, N. (PI)
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
7/1/14 → 4/30/20
Project: Research project
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Impact of perceptions on choice of kidney transplant in rural Appalachia
Ghahramani, N. (PI) & Ghahramani, N. (CoPI)
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
9/15/09 → 9/15/14
Project: Research project
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Lymphoma Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Human Cancer
Weiner, G. J. (PI), Ballas, Z. K. (CoPI), Bishop, G. A. (CoPI), Cerhan, J. R. (CoPI), Dogan, A. (CoPI), Farooq, U. (CoPI), Feldman, A. L. (CoPI), Gupta, M. (CoPI), Habermann, T. M. (CoPI), Hohl, R. (CoPI), Houtman, J. C. D. (CoPI), Juweid, M. E. (CoPI), Kaufmann, S. H. (CoPI), Lentz, S. R. (CoPI), Link, B. K. (CoPI), Macon, W. R. (CoPI), Ratliff, T. L. (CoPI), Smith, B. J. (CoPI), Ansell, S. M. (CoPI), Syrbu, S. (CoPI), Geyer, S. S. M. (CoPI) & Ansell, S. S. M. (CoPI)
9/11/02 → 6/30/22
Project: Research project
Prizes
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Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching
Pathare, A. (Recipient), Garner, M. (Recipient), Duca, N. (Recipient), Chu, D. C. (Recipient) & Miller, R. (Recipient), 2019
Prize
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Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching
Aber, R. (Recipient), Anderson, A. (Recipient), Aynardi, M. (Recipient), Browning, K. (Recipient), Chen, M. (Recipient), Chu, D. C. (Recipient), Cios, T. (Recipient), Cruz, A. (Recipient), Cruz, J. (Recipient), Dalal, P. (Recipient), Dambro, A. (Recipient), Disori, K. (Recipient), Dodge, D. (Recipient), Duda, L. (Recipient), Evey, L. (Recipient), Fotos, J. (Recipient), Fredrick, N. B. (Recipient), Freeman, M. (Recipient), Gordin, V. (Recipient), Graziane, J. (Recipient), Hempel, E. (Recipient), Hennrikus, E. (Recipient), Horwitz, A. (Recipient), Izer, J. (Recipient), Jhaveri, P. (Recipient), Kalantari, A. (Recipient), Karpa, K. (Recipient), Kaur, G. (Recipient), Keil, R. (Recipient), Khalid, M. F. (Recipient), Kimball, S. (Recipient), Knoedler, J. (Recipient), LaClair, M. (Recipient), Lam, C. (Recipient), LaRegina, C. (Recipient), Lighthall, J. (Recipient), Mailman, R. (Recipient), McCormick, J. (Recipient), McGinn, J. (Recipient), McShane, M. (Recipient), Millard, R. (Recipient), Myers, A. (Recipient), Nasir, M. (Recipient), Oh, J. (Recipient), Pathare, A. (Recipient), Peterson, B. (Recipient), Potochny, J. (Recipient), Roberts, S. M. (Recipient), Romanoski, N. (Recipient), Ross, S. (Recipient), Rudnitsky, G. (Recipient), Schade, M. (Recipient), Simmons, Z. (Recipient), Smink, G. (Recipient), Stella, S. (Recipient), Stephens, M. (Recipient), Surapaneni, S. (Recipient), Verbeek, T. (Recipient), Waning, D. (Recipient), Williams, E. (Recipient), Williams, D. (Recipient), Wilson, M. E. (Recipient), Zaorsky, N. (Recipient) & Lutzkanin, A. (Recipient), 2020
Prize
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Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching
Aprile, B. (Recipient), Aumiller, B. B. (Recipient), Berkey, F. (Recipient), Bonavia, A. (Recipient), Booth, J. (Recipient), Brennan, K. (Recipient), Browning, K. (Recipient), Buchkovich, N. (Recipient), Butt, F. K. (Recipient), Carrel, L. (Recipient), Choe, A. (Recipient), Clarke, S. (Recipient), Coleman, M. (Recipient), Dalke, K. (Recipient), Devaraj, T. (Recipient), Duryea, S. (Recipient), Enama, J. (Recipient), Evey, L. (Recipient), Finch, E. (Recipient), Fischer, M. (Recipient), Gallo, R. (Recipient), Gavigan, P. (Recipient), Ghaffari, G. (Recipient), Go, P. (Recipient), Grana, J. (Recipient), Greensmith, J. (Recipient), Grogan, J. (Recipient), Hajnal, A. (Recipient), Helm, M. (Recipient), Hempel, N. (Recipient), Imamura, F. (Recipient), Jain, R. (Recipient), Jeganathan, N. (Recipient), Kelle, A. (Recipient), Kumar, A. (Recipient), Kwun, H. J. (Recipient), Lang, C. (Recipient), Lutzkanin, A. (Recipient), Martin, K. (Recipient), McGarrity, T. (Recipient), McHale, K. (Recipient), McLaughlin, P. (Recipient), Mormando, C. (Recipient), Nguyen, J. (Recipient), Nickolich, M. (Recipient), Ouyang, T. (Recipient), Pachuski, J. (Recipient), Polimera, H. (Recipient), Potochny, E. (Recipient), Rakszawski, K. L. (Recipient), Reyes, L. (Recipient), Sankoorikal, B.-J. (Recipient), Shantz, L. (Recipient), Singh, M. (Recipient), Songdej, N. (Recipient), Spotts, R. (Recipient), Swigart, A. (Recipient), Varner, M. (Recipient), Verma, N. (Recipient), Walter, V. (Recipient), Wang, C.-Y. (Recipient), Warfield, D. (Recipient), Wilson, M. N. (Recipient) & Hussein, R. (Recipient), 2021
Prize
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Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching
Aprile, B. (Recipient), Bezinover, D. (Recipient), Blackall, G. (Recipient), Booth, J. (Recipient), Buchkovich, N. (Recipient), Budde, A. (Recipient), Burns, A. (Recipient), Cartee, T. (Recipient), Chu, D. C. (Recipient), Cilley, R. (Recipient), Crook, T. (Recipient), Dalke, K. (Recipient), Dambro, A. (Recipient), De Jesus, S. (Recipient), Demetriou, T. (Recipient), DeWaters, A. (Recipient), Duca, N. (Recipient), Evey, L. (Recipient), Frauenhoffer, E. (Recipient), Garner, M. (Recipient), Glass, K. (Recipient), Goyal, N. (Recipient), Grine, K. (Recipient), Habib, S. (Recipient), Irby, R. (Recipient), Jones, E. (Recipient), June, R. (Recipient), Karamchandani, K. (Recipient), Karpa, K. (Recipient), Kasmire, K. (Recipient), Katzman, M. (Recipient), Kavanagh, R. (Recipient), Kees-Folts, D. (Recipient), Kesterson, J. (Recipient), Sciacca Kirby, J. (Recipient), Kresch, M. (Recipient), Lankford, E. (Recipient), McDonald, A. (Recipient), Miller, R. (Recipient), Moldovan, G.-L. (Recipient), Myler, C. (Recipient), Nelson, A. (Recipient), Neutze, J. (Recipient), Newell, J. (Recipient), Norbury, C. (Recipient), O'Hara, C. (Recipient), Palmer, T. (Recipient), Pantanelli, S. (Recipient), Pichardo-Lowden, A. (Recipient), Po, W. (Recipient), Radico, J. (Recipient), Radtka, J. (Recipient), Razeghi, S. (Recipient), Rodgers, R. (Recipient), Romanoski, N. (Recipient), Samson, T. (Recipient), Shantz, L. (Recipient), Smith, B. (Recipient), Stephens, M. (Recipient) & Wang, M. (Recipient), 2019
Prize
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Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching
McAlevy, M. (Recipient), Bonavia, A. (Recipient), Malhotra, A. (Recipient), Weller, G. E. (Recipient), Waning, D. (Recipient), Lanza, M. (Recipient), Ken, K. (Recipient), McCarver, S. (Recipient), Glasser, J. (Recipient), Schooler, J. (Recipient), Lewis, S. (Recipient), Onks, C. (Recipient), Rao, R. (Recipient), Nickolich, S. (Recipient), Helm, L. (Recipient), Critchfield, L. (Recipient), Myers, K. (Recipient), Green, M. (Recipient), Songdej, N. (Recipient), Narayana, S. (Recipient), Razjouyan, H. (Recipient), Duca, N. (Recipient), Casas, R. (Recipient), Cooper, J. (Recipient), Wright, R. (Recipient), Karasinski, A. (Recipient), Probolus, J. A. (Recipient), Madara, J. (Recipient), Guck, D. (Recipient), Ingram, D. (Recipient), De Obaldia, A. (Recipient), Hussein, R. (Recipient), McGillen, B. (Recipient), Chapman, T. (Recipient), Munyon, R. (Recipient), Kinard, S. R. (Recipient), Banks, S. (Recipient), Genao, I. (Recipient), McShane, M. (Recipient), Allie, S. R. (Recipient), Silberman, Y. (Recipient), Evey, L. (Recipient), McLaughlin, P. (Recipient), Grogan, J. (Recipient), Nguyen, J. (Recipient), Donato, H. (Recipient), Fox, E. (Recipient), Gniady, J. (Recipient), Oladipo, O. (Recipient), Abendroth, C. (Recipient), Keefer, L. (Recipient), Massare, B. (Recipient), Undar, A. (Recipient), Mondal, P. (Recipient), Mainali, G. (Recipient), Jhaveri, P. (Recipient), Freiberg, A. (Recipient), Levenson, R. (Recipient), Mailman, R. (Recipient), Boodoo, R. (Recipient), Francis, A. (Recipient), Hameed, U. (Recipient), Yadav, S. (Recipient), Calo, W. (Recipient), Pinto, C. (Recipient), Cooper, A. (Recipient), Kulaylat, A. (Recipient), Scow, J. (Recipient), Roberts, J. (Recipient), Winder, J. (Recipient), Aminsharifi, A. (Recipient), Adams, N. (Recipient) & van Riggelen, J. (Recipient), 2023
Prize
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Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching
Hussein, R. (Recipient), Stredny, E. (Recipient), Whitley, M. (Recipient), Mnatsakanyan, N. (Recipient), Raimundo, N. (Recipient), Zarnescu, D. (Recipient), Adams, N. (Recipient), Lanza, M. (Recipient), Kowalczyk, A. (Recipient), Travelute, C. (Recipient), Marco, C. (Recipient), Tondt, J. (Recipient), Anderson, A. (Recipient), Heron, C. (Recipient), Newman, R. (Recipient), Richard, D. (Recipient), Scartozzi, C. (Recipient), Dellasega, C. (Recipient), Akhtar, N. (Recipient), Albano-Aluquin, S. (Recipient), Chisty, A. (Recipient), Crook, T. (Recipient), Federici, E. H. (Recipient), Ingram, D. (Recipient), Lakshmanan, P. (Recipient), Mathew, A. (Recipient), Narayana, S. (Recipient), Prokop, A. (Recipient), Razjouyan, H. (Recipient), Tariq, A. (Recipient), Thompson, B. (Recipient), Thompson, E. (Recipient), Trivedi, N. (Recipient), Van Scoy, L. (Recipient), Wong, J. (Recipient), Allie, S. R. (Recipient), Browning, K. (Recipient), Evey, L. (Recipient), McLaughlin, P. (Recipient), Mamarabadi, M. (Recipient), Shankar, L. (Recipient), Bowie, E. (Recipient), Petfield, J. (Recipient), Whitaker, M. (Recipient), Aynardi, J. (Recipient), Allen, N. (Recipient), Cunningham, B. (Recipient), Gandhi, C. (Recipient), Jairath, B. (Recipient), Lutzkanin, K. M. (Recipient), Kerris, E. (Recipient), Nelson, A. (Recipient), Shook, J. (Recipient), Proctor, E. A. (Recipient), Raup-Konsavage, W. (Recipient), Romanoski, N. (Recipient), Graziane, J. (Recipient), Llorente, A. (Recipient), Nutting, S. (Recipient), Pinto, C. (Recipient), Yingst, J. (Recipient), Zhou, S. (Recipient), Mahase, S. (Recipient), Brian, P. (Recipient), Goldman, E. (Recipient), Maffie, J. (Recipient), Brahmbhatt, R. (Recipient), Fahy, A. (Recipient), Gish, J. (Recipient), Reed, M. F. (Recipient) & Tomasko, J. (Recipient), 2024
Prize
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Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching
Ghahramani, N. (Recipient), Boateng, H. (Recipient) & Flanagan, M. (Recipient), 2016
Prize