Agnes B. Fogo, MD, left, receives the 2026 Robert H. Heptinstall Lifetime Achievement Award from Renal Pathology Society Past President Serena Bagnasco, MD, middle, and current President Renate Kain, MD, PhD. (submitted photo)
Agnes B. Fogo, MD, a renowned expert in kidney disease at Vanderbilt Health, has received the 2026 Robert H. Heptinstall Lifetime Achievement Award from the Renal Pathology Society.
The award is “a distinct and exceptional honor” given to “individuals who have achieved a stellar career in pathology, with pioneering discoveries and outstanding contributions to the field of renal pathology,” according to the society.
Fogo, the John L. Shapiro Professor of Pathology and Director of the Division of Renal Pathology, received the award at the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology annual meeting in March.
“I was so honored and humbled to receive this recognition — our accomplishments reflect the amazing team I am part of for both diagnosis and research to improve understanding of kidney diseases,” said Fogo, who is also Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Medicine, and Pediatrics.
“Dr. Fogo is an internationally renowned renal pathologist,” said Adam Seegmiller, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. “Her diagnostic expertise and clinical and translational research have made a lasting impact on understanding the pathophysiology and diagnosis of kidney disease. I can think of no one more deserving of this prestigious award.”
Fogo and her colleagues perform diagnostic assessments of native and transplant kidney biopsies. Using their extensive archive of case material, they investigate kidney conditions including diabetic nephropathy, arterionephrosclerosis, IgA nephropathy, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and hepatitis C-related diseases. In transplant tissue, they examine thresholds and markers for diagnosing acute T cell-mediated rejection and other forms of transplant injury. They also conduct basic science research on the mechanisms and pathophysiology of chronic kidney disease progression using in vitro and in vivo model systems.
Fogo is a graduate of the University of Oslo in Norway and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She received her medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and remained at Vanderbilt Health for her residency and renal pathology fellowship. She joined the VUSM faculty in 1987.
Fogo received the 2019 Roscoe Robinson Award from the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the 2011 Robert G. Narins Award from the American Society of Nephrology. She has served as an ISN councilor and was ISN president from 2021-2023, only the second renal pathologist and third woman to hold that position.
Fogo is the author of two books on renal pathology, senior editor of the online Atlas of Renal Pathology for the National Kidney Foundation, and a lead editor for the eighth edition of “Heptinstall’s Pathology of the Kidney,” the definitive textbook in renal pathology.
The Robert H. Heptinstall Lifetime Achievement Award is named for a preeminent renal pathologist who was a former president of the Renal Pathology Society and the American Society of Pathology, and who was the Chair of Pathology at Johns Hopkins for 20 years.
