Biography
Dr. Brakeman is an Associate Professor based at the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital with a primary appointment in Pediatrics and a secondary appointment in the Division of Nephrology in the Department of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate training at UC Berkeley in biophysics before entering a combined MD/PhD program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His thesis work consisted of evaluating the role of immediate early genes in learning and memory during brain development. He completed his MD and PhD degrees in 1997 before coming to UCSF to pursue residency in the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Brakeman served as chief resident in pediatrics in 2000-2001 and then went on to become a fellow in the Division of Pediatric Nephrology at UCSF. During his fellowship, Dr. Brakeman began his renal research career, studying kidney development and the molecular mechanisms of kidney morphogenesis. Dr. Brakeman joined the UCSF faculty after completing his fellowship in 2004.
Since joining the UCSF faculty, Dr. Brakeman has developed clinical expertise in the evaluation and treatment of pediatric dialysis patients, pediatric chronic kidney disease, urinary tract infections and obstructive nephropathy.
Education
Institution | Degree | Dept or School | End Date |
---|---|---|---|
John Hopkins University | M.D. | School of Medicine | 1997 |
University of California, San Francisco | Residency | School of Medicine |
Board Certifications
American Board of Pediatrics - General Pediatrics
American Board of Pediatrics - Pediatric Nephrology Subspecialty
Awards & Honors
Award | Conferred By | Date |
---|---|---|
Top Doctor | Marin Magazine | 2019 |
Top Doctor | San Francisco Magazine | 2019 |
Designated Nephrotic Syndrome Expert | Nephcure Kidney International | 2018 |
Excellence in Teaching Award | Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators | 2016 |
Clinical Expertise
Chronic kidney disease
Obstructive nephropathy
Pediatric dialysis
Systemic lupus erythematous
Urinary tract infection
In the News
Grants and Funding
- The Role of Nectin in Congenital Obstructive Nephropathy | NIH | 2004-09-01 - 2010-11-30 | Role: Principal Investigator
Research Narrative
The primary focus of Dr. Brakeman's research is the engineering of human renal epithelial cells for use in a bioartificial kidney. Work is currently underway at UCSF on a multi-center project to develop a bioartificial implantable renal assist device based on hemofiltration. One of the important components of an implantable bioartificial device is an active renal proximal tubule cell bioreactor that can provide some of the metabolic activity of renal tubules. Another critical function of the cellular bioreactor will be the reabsorption of salt and water in order to reduce the volume of the filtrate generated as much as possible before elimination via the bladder. Dr. Brakeman's lab is focused on engineering human proximal tubules cells to enhance sodium and water reabsorption for use in the bioartificial kidney. In addition, he is actively evaluating the use of the proximal tubule cell bioreactor for use in toxicology and pharmaceutical evaluation of novel compounds.
Dr. Brakeman's work is funded by the Roger's Family Foundation.
Research Interests
Kidney development
Artificial kidney engineering
Sodium and water transport
Publications
- Nectin proteins are expressed at early stages of nephrogenesis and play a role in renal epithelial cell morphogenesis.| | PubMed
- Involvement of RhoA, ROCK I and myosin II in inverted orientation of epithelial polarity.| | PubMed
- Renal repair and recovery.| | PubMed
- Transient hyperglycemia affects the extent of ischemia-reperfusion-induced renal injury in rats.| | PubMed
- Being overweight modifies the association between cardiovascular risk factors and microalbuminuria in adolescents.| | PubMed
- Vesicoureteral reflux, reflux nephropathy, and end-stage renal disease.| | PubMed
- Rac1 is required for reorientation of polarity and lumen formation through a PI 3-kinase-dependent pathway.| | PubMed
- Polarity proteins PAR6 and aPKC regulate cell death through GSK-3beta in 3D epithelial morphogenesis.| | PubMed
- Formation of multicellular epithelial structures.| | PubMed
- The scaffold protein, Homer1b/c, regulates axon pathfinding in the central nervous system in vivo.| | PubMed