Joshua H. Lipschutz, M.D., did his undergraduate studies, medical school, and residency at Indiana University, followed by a stint as the director of an emergency room. He then headed west to do his Nephrology Fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 1992. At UCSF he worked in the laboratory of Jerry Cunha, Ph.D., studying the role of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions in urogenital development. This was followed by a second fellowship in the laboratory of Keith Mostov, M.D., Ph.D., for which he received an NIH KO8 Award and was made an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF. In 2001, Josh was recruited to the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Medicine within the Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division. He successfully established an internationally-recognized independent research program focused on identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating renal cystogenesis and tubulogenesis.

Understanding cystogenesis and tubulogenesis is critically important as 500,000 Americans have autosomal polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), a disease of disordered ciliogenesis and cystogenesis that is the fourth leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Millions more suffer acute tubular necrosis (ATN), a leading cause of acute kidney injury (AKI), with AKI being both a strong independent predictor of mortality in hospitalized patients, and a risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD). There are no approved treatments for AKI, and only one for ADPKD, so basic research leading to therapies to shut off inappropriate cystogenesis in ADPKD, or speed tubular recovery following AKI, is essential. His work, published in over 70 scientific manuscripts, has been supported by multiple grants from the NIH, VA, and private foundations.

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