Laura Dember

Laura M. Dember, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine where she is a faculty member in the Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division, a Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and the Director of the Certificate Program in Clinical Research. Dr. Dember conducts patient-oriented research in chronic kidney disease with a particular focus on clinical trials in advanced chronic kidney disease, maintenance hemodialysis, and the systemic amyloidosis. She has held leadership roles in several multicenter clinical trials and observational studies including the Dialysis Access Consortium, the Hemodialysis Fistula Maturation Study, the Hemodialysis Novel Therapies Consortium, the HOPE Consortium trial, and the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study, all funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. As the Principal Investigator for the NIH Time to Reduce Mortality in End-Stage Renal Disease trial, Dr. Dember played an important role in introducing to the nephrology community large pragmatic trials embedded in clinical care delivery, an effort that she is continuing as a Multi-PI for the PCORI SMaRRT-HD comparative effectiveness trial of symptom monitoring in hemodialysis. Dr. Dember has mentored numerous nephrology fellows and faculty members during the early stages of their independent research careers. She previously served as a Deputy Editor for the American Journal of Kidney Diseases and was the recipient of the National Kidney Foundation’s 2020 J. Michael Lazarus Award. Her involvement in GlomCon includes lecturing in the RADIANT course and serving as a Consulting Editor for Rare Kidney Diseases. Dr. Dember is a graduate of Yale University School of Medicine, she completed her internal medicine residency training at the University of Pennsylvania, and completed her nephrology fellowship training at Penn and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.