Search Website
Announcement: Dr. Amit Garg named inaugural Kay Family Chair in Transformational Kidney Care
Office of the Dean
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Amit Garg has been named the inaugural Kay Family Chair in Transformational Kidney Care at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, effective May 1, 2025 to April 30, 2031.
This research chair in the Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, has been established to enhance its legacy of excellence and impact in kidney, dialysis and transplantation research. A team of world-class members within the Division of Nephrology supports this initiative. Dr. Amit Garg will co-lead a provincial KidneyCare Outreach program with Dr. Ann Young at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, as a key part of the Chair’s activities.
Community efforts to improve the recognition and management of chronic kidney disease have not fully addressed the issue of late referrals for specialized nephrology care. Many at-risk individuals still lack access to evidence-based treatments that could enhance survival and slow disease progression. The KidneyCare Outreach program uses large, population-based databases to identify adults with unrecognized kidney disease and connect them with needed specialized outpatient renal care. The program's impact will be assessed through a large, randomized trial.
Dr. Garg completed his MD at the University of Toronto in 1995 and his PhD in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University in 2005. In 2011, he was promoted to full professor in the Departments of Medicine, Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry.
His clinical practice involves outpatient clinics, on-call hospital weeks and the care of patients with advanced kidney disease, living kidney donor candidates and those undergoing hemodialysis.
Dr. Garg’s research has significantly improved the safety and practice of living kidney donation, reduced the risk of perioperative acute kidney injury and enhanced scientific information retrieval. His research on unsafe drug prescribing practices has led to label changes by Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He has conducted multiple large, multi-centre randomized trials to improve renal care. His first- or senior-author research has appeared several times in prestigious journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, the BMJ and the CMAJ. Additionally, his work has been featured in mainstream media outlets such as CTV, Global News and The New York Times. He has authored more than 750 papers and has published with more than a thousand collaborators. He has an h-index of 131 and has been a primary research supervisor to more than 80 trainees who achieved substantial academic success.
Dr. Garg feels incredibly fortunate to contribute this way and is grateful for the ongoing support and presence of many brilliant people in our community, both at work and at home.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Garg on his appointment.
John Yoo, MD, FRCS(C), FACS
Dean, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Western University