Lurie Children’s Appoints New Division Head of Kidney Diseases

Priya Verghese, MD, MPH, has been named the new Division Head of Kidney Diseases at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. She also will be appointed Professor of Nephrology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Verghese will assume the role in January 2020, will become the division head of Kidney Diseases, succeeding Craig Langman, MD. 

Dr. Langman became a world-renowned researcher and clinician in the areas of chronic kidney diseases, hypertension, Vitamin D and cystinosis.  Under his leadership, the Division has grown to be one of the nation's premier centers and a top tier Kidney Program in USNews & World Report. 

Dr. Langman will be staying on with the Division and will be taking a leadership role in Northwestern University's Area of Scholarly Concentration program.

Dr. Verghese is a pediatric nephrologist who comes from the University of Minnesota where she served as the Medical Director of Pediatric Kidney Transplantation and was an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics. 

“Dr. Verghese is an outstanding pediatric kidney transplant specialist and a leading researcher focused on improving transplant outcomes for children across the world,” said Thomas Shanley, MD, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Lurie Children’s.  “Her expertise makes her an excellent choice to lead our nationally-ranked kidney disease program.” 

Although born in the United States, she grew up in India where she attended one of the country’s top five medical colleges and then pursued a pediatric residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She moved to Seattle, where she completed a pediatric nephrology fellowship and subsequent transplant fellowship at the University of Washington, while simultaneously earning a Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology.

Dr. Verghese holds several positions in national and international transplant organizations, including the American Society of Transplantation, the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology and United Network of Organ Sharing.  She uses these platforms to advocate for equity and better access to organs for children, and her research is patient-driven.

Lurie Children's is one of the top children’s hospitals in the country and its Division of Kidney Diseases (Nephrology) is ranked 10 in the country by U.S. News & World Report for pediatric kidney disorders.  Lurie Children's is the pediatric teaching arm for Feinberg School of Medicine and is one of only a handful of U.S. children’s hospitals with a dedicated pediatric research center, Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute.  Last year, the hospital treated more than 208,000 patients.