Professor of Medicine
Division of Nephrology
Marie S Ingalls Chair in Nephrology Leadership

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Education

MD, Kasturba Medical College, India (With Honors)
Residency, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, India
Fellow (Nephrology), Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, India
Fellow (Nephrology), University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic, Minneapolis

Research Interests

Dr. Agarwal's principal interests in clinical nephrology include acute renal failure, specifically in the intensive care unit setting, toxic nephropathies, fluid and electrolyte disorders, glomerular disorders, progression of renal disease, and diabetic nephropathy. His long term goals are to pursue a career in academic nephrology with the primary focus being on basic research, teaching and patient care. His goal is to apply knowledge gained from bench research to the bedside, enabling research to be a significant contributor to advancement in clinical medicine. Dr. Agarwal’s research efforts include three main areas. (i) His laboratory is studying the molecular regulation of the human heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) gene in renal injury and in atherosclerosis. Induction of this gene occurs as an adaptive and beneficial response to injury and is protective in several clinically important conditions such as acute renal failure, transplant rejection, angiogenesis and atherosclerosis. Studies are focused on identifying regulatory regions in the human HO-1 gene that mediate induction in response to stimuli such as heme, cytokines, nitric oxide, modified lipids and growth factors (eg. transforming growth factor-beta). The studies involve molecular biology techniques to study DNA-protein interactions using chromatin structure analysis, in vivo footprinting, site-directed mutagenesis and gel shift assays. In collaboration with Dr. Bruce Freeman, his laboratory is studying the molecular and biological effects of nitrated lipids on HO-1 gene expression in endothelial cells and in the vasculature. (ii) The functional significance of HO-1 gene expression is also being evaluated using both in vitro and in vivo systems in transgenic animal models of acute renal injury, transplantation and atherosclerosis. (iii) His laboratory is actively pursuing gene delivery approaches in the kidney and the vasculature in animal models of transplantation using recombinant adeno-associated viral vectors. Alternate serotypes and capsid mutants of adeno-associated viral vectors are being developed to maximize gene transfer to the otherwise resistant vascular compartment in the kidney.