Joshua Carty, MD, a clinical fellow in nephrology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has won a $50,000 Ben J. Lipps Research Fellowship from KidneyCure, a nonprofit foundation of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) that supports young investigators who are “driving innovation in kidney care.”
Carty works in the laboratory of Juan Pablo Arroyo, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension. He is co-mentored by Volker Haase, MD, the Krick-Brooks Professor of Nephrology and professor of Medicine.
Carty’s research focuses on nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI), a rare kidney condition in which the body produces too much urine, leading to rapid and potentially dangerous dehydration. NDI results when the body fails to respond properly to vasopressin, a hormone that regulates water and blood pressure balance (homeostasis).
He is investigating how mitochondrial dysfunction, a disruption in energy generation by the “powerhouses of the cell,” the mitochondria, affects vasopressin signaling and water conservation in the distal nephron, the part of the kidney where water resorption occurs. The research could lead to new ways to treat NDI.
“The work that is being done by Drs. Carty and Arroyo is the perfect example of translation research that will move the discipline (of nephrology) forward,” said T. Alp Ikizler, MD, professor of Medicine and director of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension.
Receipt of this highly competitive award is an indication that, as a physician-scientist, Carty “will have a significant impact on the care of patients living with kidney disease,” said Ikizler, who holds the Catherine McLaughlin Hakim Chair in Vascular Biology.
With support from ASN members, pharmaceutical and other industry partners, and leaders in the field of nephrology, KidneyCure provides approximately $3 million annually to support young researchers, fellows and nephrology educators “who are changing the future of kidney care.”
Carty’s was one of 10 research fellowships awarded by KidneyCure in 2025. The Ben J. Lipps Research Fellowship is named for Ben Lipps, PhD, who led the research team at Dow Chemical that developed the first hollow fiber dialyzer, an artificial kidney, in the late 1960s.
Previous recipients of KidneyCure postdoctoral research grants at VUMC include:
- Fabian Bock, MD, PhD, a 2021 Ben J. Lipps Research Fellow who currently is an assistant professor of Medicine at VUMC;
- Eman Gohar, MSc, PhD, recipient of a 2022 Carl W. Gottschalk Research Scholar Grant who also is an assistant professor of Medicine at VUMC;
- Bethany Birkelo, DO, MSCI, recipient of a 2022 Joseph A. Carlucci Research Fellowship who is an assistant professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota;
- Sho Sugahara, MD, PhD, a 2022 Ben J. Lipps Research Fellow in the VUMC Division of Nephrology and Hypertension; and
- Ryoichi Bessho, MD, PhD, a 2024 Sharon Anderson Research Fellow in the Haase lab.
Bessho’s fellowship is named for Sharon Anderson, MD, a pioneering nephrologist in Portland, Oregon, who was the first woman to serve as president of the ASN. He is investigating how abnormalities in mitochondrial metabolism contribute to the pathophysiology of kidney injury.
Since the foundation was established in 2012, KidneyCure has provided more than $50 million in support to more than 400 investigators, foundation officials said in a news release.
“With tens of billions of dollars at risk of being removed from the U.S. research pipeline, now more than ever it is imperative that we support early-stage investigators across the kidney research spectrum,” said Deidra Crews, MD, ScM, chair of the KidneyCure Board of Directors.
“This year’s KidneyCure grant recipients represent not only the best and brightest minds working in nephrology, but also our unyielding commitment to a world without kidney diseases.”
