Elaine Ku, MD, MAS

The global context of my research program focuses on understanding differences in the epidemiology, clinical management, and outcomes of children versus adults with kidney disease and the conduct of clinical trials to test interventions (such as blood pressure control) that will improve survival of patients with kidney disease. I am especially interested in transitions of care, such as that between adolescence and young adulthood, as well as that between advanced chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease (including dialysis and transplant).

My specific areas of focus currently include 1) cardiovascular risk in patients with kidney disease; 2) disparities in access to kidney transplantation and transplant outcomes; and 3) risk factors for progression of chronic kidney disease.

I am currently Director of the Training in Clinical Research Program in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Education
2020 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
MAS, 06/2015 - Clinical and Epidemiologic Research, University of California
06/2015 - Nephrology and Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship, University of California
06/2011 - Medicine and Pediatrics Residency, LAC-USC Medical Center
MD, 06/2007 - Medicine, University of California
BA/BS, 06/2003 - English/Biology, University of California
Honors and Awards
  • Election to American Society of Clinical Investigation, 2024
  • Inquiry Mentor Award for Outstanding Mentorship, UCSF School of Medicine, 2019
  • National Kidney Foundation, Young Investigator Award/Satellite Clinical Investigator, 2016-2018
  • American Kidney Fund, Clinical Scientist in Nephrology Award, 2013-2014
Websites
  1. Bicki AC, Grimes B, McCulloch CE, Copeland TP, Ku E. Dialysis Facility Staffing Ratios and Kidney Transplant Access Among Adolescents and Young Adults. JAMA 2024. PMID: 39441575


  2. Ku E, Copeland TP, McCulloch CE, Seth D, Carlos CA, Cho K, Malkina A, Lo LJ, Hsu RK. Intensive Home Blood Pressure Lowering in Patients with Advanced CKD. American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation 2024. PMID: 39427725


  3. Huang JX, Casper TC, Pitts C, Myers SR, Lynch R, Loomba L, Ramesh J, Kuppermann N, Ku E, Glaser N. Characterizing the relationship between social determinants of health and risk of albuminuria among children with type 1 diabetes. Journal of diabetes and its complications 2024. PMID: 39423463


  4. Ku E, Legaspi S, Copeland TP, Adey DB, Whelan AM, Roll GR, McCulloch CE, Lee BK, Johansen KL. Living Donor Candidates' Self-reported Health and Health Perceptions and Completion of Donor Evaluation: A Cohort Study. Kidney Medicine 2024. PMID: 39534796






  5. Ku E, Inker LA, Tighiouart H, McCulloch CE, Adingwupu OM, Greene T, Estacio RO, Woodward M, de Zeeuw D, Lewis JB, Hannedouche T, Jafar TH, Imai E, Remuzzi G, Heerspink HJL, Hou FF, Toto RD, Li PK, Sarnak MJ. Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors or Angiotensin-Receptor Blockers for Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease : A Systematic Review and Retrospective Individual Participant-Level Meta-analysis of Clinical Trials. Annals of internal medicine 2024. PMID: 38950402


  6. Ku E, Tighiouart H, McCulloch CE, Inker LA, Adingwupu O, Greene T, Estacio RO, Woodward M, de Zeeuw D, Lewis JB, Hannedouche T, Hou FF, Jafar TH, Ima E, Remuzzi G, Heerspink HJL, Toto RD, Sarnak MJ. Association between Acute Declines in Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate during Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibition and Risk of Adverse Outcomes. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN 2024. PMID: 38889197


  7. Huang JX, Copeland TP, Pitts CE, Myers SR, Kilberg MJ, Ku E, Glaser N. Transient albuminuria in the setting of short-term severe hyperglycemia in type 1 diabetes. Journal of diabetes and its complications 2024. PMID: 38703638


  8. Johansen KL, Gilbertson DT, Li S, Li S, Liu J, Roetker NS, Ku E, Schulman IH, Greer RC, Chan K, Abbott KC, Butler CR, O'Hare AM, Powe NR, Reddy YNV, Snyder J, St Peter W, Taylor JS, Weinhandl ED, Wetmore JB. US Renal Data System 2023 Annual Data Report: Epidemiology of Kidney Disease in the United States. American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation 2024. PMID: 38519262






  9. Jia Xin Huang, T. Charles Casper, Casey Pitts, Sage Myers, Rebecca Lynch, Lindsey Loomba-Albrecht, Nathan Kuppermann, Elaine Ku, Nicole Glaser. 708: SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH EFFECTS ON RISK OF MICROALBUMINURIA AMONG CHILDREN WITH T1D. Critical care medicine 2023. PMID:


  10. Ku E, Copeland T, Chen L, Weir MR, McCulloch CE, Johansen KL, Goussous N, Savant JD, Lopez I, Amaral S. Strategies to Guide Preemptive Waitlisting and Equity in Wait Time Accrual by Race/Ethnicity. Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN 2023. PMID: 37930674



  11. Elaine Ku, Lesley A. Inker, Hocine Tighiouart, Charles E. Mcculloch, Ogechi M. Adingwupu, Tom Greene, Mark J. Sarnak. Initiation of ACE Inhibitor and ARBs in Patients with Advanced CKD. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2023. PMID:


  12. Gabriela Accetta Rojas, Charles E. Mcculloch, Adrian Whelan, Timothy P. Copeland, Alexandra Bicki, Sophia Giang, Barbara A. Grimes, Elaine Ku. Pediatric Nephrology Workforce in the United States and Access to Waitlist Registration in Children with ESKD. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2023. PMID:



  13. Ku E, Copeland T, McCulloch CE, Freise C, Legaspi S, Weinhandl E, Woo K, Johansen KL. Peritoneal dialysis catheter complications after insertion by surgeons, radiologists, or nephrologists. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN 2023. PMID: 37846202


  14. Ku E, McCulloch CE, Bicki A, Lin F, Lopez I, Furth SL, Warady BA, Grimes BA, Amaral S. Association Between Dialysis Facility Ownership and Mortality Risk in Children With Kidney Failure. JAMA pediatrics 2023. PMID: 37669042







  15. Ku E, Del Vecchio L, Eckardt KU, Haase VH, Johansen KL, Nangaku M, Tangri N, Waikar SS, Wiecek A, Cheung M, Jadoul M, Winkelmayer WC, Wheeler DC, for Conference Participants. Novel Anemia Therapies in Chronic Kidney Disease: Conclusions from a Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Controversies Conference. Kidney international 2023. PMID: 37236424




  16. Johansen KL, Chertow GM, Gilbertson DT, Ishani A, Israni A, Ku E, Li S, Li S, Liu J, Obrador GT, Schulman I, Chan K, Abbott KC, O'Hare AM, Powe NR, Roetker NS, Scherer JS, St Peter W, Snyder J, Winkelmayer WC, Wong SPY, Wetmore JB. US Renal Data System 2022 Annual Data Report: Epidemiology of Kidney Disease in the United States. American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation 2023. PMID: 36822739


  17. Ku E, McCulloch CE, Inker LA, Tighiouart H, Schaefer F, W?hl E, Ruggenenti P, Remuzzi G, Grimes BA, Sarnak MJ. Intensive BP Control in Patients with CKD and Risk for Adverse Outcomes. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN 2023. PMID: 36735510





  18. Lucy Zhang, Sandra Amaral, Charles E. Mcculloch, Barbara A. Grimes, Elaine Ku. Risk of Death in Hospital-Based vs. Free-Standing Dialysis Facilities in the United States. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2022. PMID:


  19. Davidson F. Emanuels, Timothy P. Copeland, Kirsten L. Johansen, Charles E. Mcculloch, Elaine Ku. Variations in Access to Repeat Transplantation by Transplant Center Continuity. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2022. PMID:



  20. Elaine Ku, Jérôme Harambat. Epidemiology and Management of Chronic Kidney Disease in Children. 2022. PMID:



  21. Amaral S, McCulloch CE, Lin F, Grimes BA, Furth S, Warady B, Brunson C, Siyahian S, Ku E. Association Between Dialysis Facility Ownership and Access to the Waiting List and Transplant in Pediatric Patients With End-stage Kidney Disease in the US. JAMA 2022. PMID: 35916847




  22. Johansen KL, Chertow GM, Gilbertson DT, Herzog CA, Ishani A, Israni AK, Ku E, Li S, Li S, Liu J, Obrador GT, O'Hare AM, Peng Y, Powe NR, Roetker NS, St Peter WL, Saeed F, Snyder J, Solid C, Weinhandl ED, Winkelmayer WC, Wetmore JB. US Renal Data System 2021 Annual Data Report: Epidemiology of Kidney Disease in the United States. 2022. PMID: 35331382


  23. Whelan AM, Johansen KL, Copeland T, McCulloch CE, Nallapothula D, Lee BK, Roll GR, Weir MR, Adey DB, Ku E. Kidney transplant candidacy evaluation and waitlisting practices in the US and their association with access to transplantation. 2022. PMID: 35289082




  24. Drawz PE, Beddhu S, Bignall ONR, Cohen JB, Flynn JT, Ku E, Rahman M, Thomas G, Weir MR, Whelton PK. KDOQI US Commentary on the 2021 KDIGO Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Blood Pressure in CKD. 2022. PMID: 35063302


  25. Braun HJ, Mello A, Kothari R, Ku E, Yilma M, Tavakol M, Zhang L, Niemann CU, Ascher NL, Adelmann D. Expedited Evaluation for Liver Transplantation: A Critical Look at Processes and Outcomes. 2021. PMID: 34791697


  26. Bruce MA, Thorpe RJ, Kermah D, Shen J, Nicholas SB, Beech BM, Tuot DS, Ku E, Waterman AD, Duru K, Brown A, Norris KC. Religious Service Attendance and Mortality among Adults in the United States with Chronic Kidney Disease. 2021. PMID: 34948788





  27. Elaine Ku, Jérôme Harambat. Epidemiology and management of Chronic Kidney Disease in Children. 2021. PMID:


  28. Hillary J. Braun, Iris H. Liu, Dominic Amara, Peter Stock, Libo Li, Elaine Ku, Jade Hiramoto. Lower Extremity Vascular Intervention Is Associated With Increased Mortality Following Kidney Transplantation. Journal of vascular surgery 2021. PMID:




  29. Black E, Lee J, Flynn JT, McCulloch CE, Samuels JA, Seth D, Warady B, Furth S, Mitsnefes M, Ku E. Discordances between pediatric and adult thresholds in the diagnosis of hypertension in adolescents with CKD. Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) 2021. PMID: 34170411



  30. Johansen KL, Chertow GM, Foley RN, Gilbertson DT, Herzog CA, Ishani A, Israni AK, Ku E, Kurella Tamura M, Li S, Li S, Liu J, Obrador GT, O'Hare AM, Peng Y, Powe NR, Roetker NS, St Peter WL, Abbott KC, Chan KE, Schulman IH, Snyder J, Solid C, Weinhandl ED, Winkelmayer WC, Wetmore JB. US Renal Data System 2020 Annual Data Report: Epidemiology of Kidney Disease in the United States. American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation 2021. PMID: 33752804



  31. McAllister S, Lai JC, Copeland TP, Johansen KL, McCulloch CE, Kwong YD, Seth D, Grimes B, Ku E. Renal Recovery and Mortality Risk among Patients with Hepatorenal Syndrome Receiving Chronic Maintenance Dialysis. 2021. PMID: 35373067







  32. Roberts MJ, Johansen KL, Copeland TP, McCulloch CE, Coufal S, Ku E. Factors Associated with Dialysis Discontinuation Outside of the Acute Care Setting. 2020. PMID: 35373030


  33. Ku E, Whelan AM, McCulloch CE, Lee B, Niemann CU, Roll GR, Grimes BA, Johansen KL. Weighing the waitlist: Weight changes and access to kidney transplantation among obese candidates. PloS one 2020. PMID: 33253253


  34. Chu CD, Ku E, Fallahzadeh MK, McCulloch CE, Tuot DS. The Kidney Failure Risk Equation for Prediction of Allograft Loss in Kidney Transplant Recipients. Kidney Medicine 2020. PMID: 33319199


  35. Alex Dinh, Timothy P. Copeland, Joachim H. Ix, Barry I. Freedman, Charles E. McCulloch, Elaine Ku. Intensive BP Control Associates with Better Kidney Outcomes in Individuals with APOL1 High-Risk Genotypes. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2020. PMID:


  36. Yuenting D. Kwong, Kirsten L. Johansen, Charles E. McCulloch, Kathleen D. Liu, Barbara A. Grimes, Elaine Ku. Regional Variation in Recovery of Kidney Function in Patients Requiring Maintenance Hemodialysis with Acute Tubular Necrosis. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2020. PMID:


  37. Whelan AM, Johansen KL, McCulloch CE, Adelmann D, Niemann CU, Roll GR, Siyahian S, Grimes B, Ku E. Longer Distance From Dialysis Facility to Transplant Center Is Associated With Lower Access to Kidney Transplantation. Transplantation direct 2020. PMID: 33134482




  38. Parikh RV, Tan TC, Salyer AS, Auron A, Kim PS, Ku E, Go AS. Community-Based Epidemiology of Hospitalized Acute Kidney Injury. Pediatrics 2020. PMID: 32784225




  39. Ku E, Lee BK, McCulloch CE, Roll GR, Grimes B, Adey D, Johansen KL. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Kidney Transplant Access Within a Theoretical Context of Medical Eligibility. Transplantation 2020. PMID: 31568216


  40. Wang CS, Ku E. eHealth in kidney care. Nature reviews. Nephrology 2020. PMID: 32238923


  41. Amaral S, McCulloch CE, Black E, Winnicki E, Lee B, Roll GR, Grimes B, Ku E. Trends in Living Donation by Race and Ethnicity Among Children With End-stage Renal Disease in the United States, 1995-2015. Transplantation direct 2020. PMID: 32766425




  42. Zhang X, Rule AD, McCulloch CE, Lieske JC, Ku E, Hsu CY. Tubular secretion of creatinine and kidney function: an observational study. BMC nephrology 2020. PMID: 32228497


  43. Lee J, McCulloch CE, Flynn JT, Samuels J, Warady BA, Furth SL, Seth D, Grimes BA, Mitsnefes MM, Ku E. Prognostic Value of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Load in Pediatric CKD. Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN 2020. PMID: 32160993



  44. Ku E, Yang W, McCulloch CE, Feldman HI, Go AS, Lash J, Bansal N, He J, Horwitz E, Ricardo AC, Shafi T, Sondheimer J, Townsend RR, Waikar SS, Hsu CY, CRIC Study Investigators. Race and Mortality in CKD and Dialysis: Findings From the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study. American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation 2019. PMID: 31732235


  45. Winnicki E, McCulloch CE, Ku E. Authors' Reply. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN 2019. PMID: 31649098




  46. Winnicki E, Johansen KL, Cabana MD, Warady BA, McCulloch CE, Grimes B, Ku E. Higher eGFR at Dialysis Initiation Is Not Associated with a Survival Benefit in Children. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN 2019. PMID: 31320460



  47. Ku E, McCulloch CE, Johansen KL. Starting Renal Replacement Therapy: Is It About Time? American journal of nephrology 2019. PMID: 31269487






  48. Roberts MJ, Mitsnefes MM, McCulloch CE, Greenbaum LA, Grimes BA, Ku E. Association between BMI changes and mortality risk in children with end-stage renal disease. Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) 2019. PMID: 30963283





  49. Tuot DS, Lin F, Norris K, Gassman J, Smogorzewski M, Ku E. Depressive Symptoms Associate With Race and All-Cause Mortality in Patients With CKD. Kidney international reports 2018. PMID: 30775619




  50. Ku E, Ix JH, Jamerson K, Tangri N, Lin F, Gassman J, Smogorzewski M, Sarnak MJ. Acute Declines in Renal Function during Intensive BP Lowering and Long-Term Risk of Death. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN 2018. PMID: 30006417






  51. Ku E, Kopple JD, Johansen KL, McCulloch CE, Go AS, Xie D, Lin F, Hamm LL, He J, Kusek JW, Navaneethan SD, Ricardo AC, Rincon-Choles H, Smogorzewski M, Hsu CY, CRIC Study Investigators. Longitudinal Weight Change During CKD Progression and Its Association With Subsequent Mortality. American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation 2017. PMID: 29217305



  52. Ku E, Scherzer R, Odden MC, Shlipak M, White CL, Field TS, Benavente O, Pergola PE, Peralta CA. Patterns of blood pressure response during intensive BP lowering and clinical events: results from the secondary prevention of small subcortical strokes trial. Blood pressure 2017. PMID: 28952798


  53. Ku E, Bakris G, Johansen KL, Lin F, Sarnak MJ, Campese VM, Jamerson K, Gassman JJ, Smogorzewski M, Hsu CY. Acute Declines in Renal Function during Intensive BP Lowering: Implications for Future ESRD Risk. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN 2017. PMID: 28473636



  54. Ku E, Lipkowitz MS, Appel LJ, Parsa A, Gassman J, Glidden DV, Smogorzewski M, Hsu CY. Strict blood pressure control associates with decreased mortality risk by APOL1 genotype. Kidney international 2016. PMID: 27927600


  55. Ku E, McCulloch CE, Mauer M, Gitelman SE, Grimes BA, Hsu CY. Association Between Blood Pressure and Adverse Renal Events in Type 1 Diabetes. Diabetes care 2016. PMID: 27872156


  56. Ku E, Gassman J, Appel LJ, Smogorzewski M, Sarnak MJ, Glidden DV, Bakris G, Gutiérrez OM, Hebert LA, Ix JH, Lea J, Lipkowitz MS, Norris K, Ploth D, Pogue VA, Rostand SG, Siew ED, Sika M, Tisher CC, Toto R, Wright JT, Wyatt C, Hsu CY. BP Control and Long-Term Risk of ESRD and Mortality. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN 2016. PMID: 27516235


  57. Ku E, Fine RN, Hsu CY, McCulloch C, Glidden DV, Grimes B, Johansen KL. Height at First RRT and Mortality in Children. Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN 2016. PMID: 26933189


  58. Ku E, Xie D, Shlipak M, Hyre Anderson A, Chen J, Go AS, He J, Horwitz EJ, Rahman M, Ricardo AC, Sondheimer JH, Townsend RR, Hsu CY, CRIC Study Investigators. Change in Measured GFR Versus eGFR and CKD Outcomes. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN 2015. PMID: 26604213













  59. Elaine Ku, B. Jason Brotherton, Christopher Parrish, Stephanie K. Zia, Susan McKenna. Visual Diagnosis. 2010. PMID:


  60. Ku E, Brotherton BJ, Parrish C, Zia SK, McKenna S. Visual diagnosis: vaginal mass in a 16-month-old child. Pediatrics in review 2010. PMID: 20679100



  61. Elaine Ku, Jeanie Park, Jay Vidhun, Vito Campese. The Case for Dual Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibition—Reply. JAMA internal medicine 2009. PMID: