VUMC's Hebert lands Homer Smith Award for Nephrology work
Dr. Steven Hebert, winner of the Homer W. Smith Award. Photo by Donna Jone Bailey.
Dr. Steven C. Hebert, Ann and Roscoe R. Robinson professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Nephrology, has received the Homer W. Smith Award from the American Society of Nephrology.
The award recognizes Hebert's contributions to research into kidney disease and function.
"It is a great honor to receive this award from the American Society of Nephrology," said Hebert.
In the course of his investigations, Hebert discovered the genes that produce Bartter's and Gittleman's Syndromes, genetic diseases which affect the filtering function of the kidneys.
"We cloned the genes responsible for electroneutral cation-chloride co-transporter systems, mutations of which cause these syndromes," said Hebert.
Hebert received the award during the association's annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, where he spoke on the basic mechanisms behind his research and discussed the interplay of salt and divalent mineral metabolism and their potential implications in blood pressure control.
Hebert has also studied ion, sodium and water transport and homeostasis in the cells of the kidney and divalent mineral homeostasis.