Making Pediatric Nephrology Expertise Accessible

Chicago-based Rush University Children’s Hospital had not had an established pediatric nephrology service or clinic  since 2023 – that was until Jeanne Frisby- Zedan, MD, began seeing patients there.  The newly formed affiliation would open the doors to even more pediatric nephrologists. 

Now, the Division of Nephrology, led by Priya Verghese, MD, MPH, provides ten outpatient clinics per month covered by Dr. Frisby- Zedan and a new team member, Dr. Deirdre Bartlett.  These clinics are at capacity says Dr. Frisby-Zedan. 

Providing this patient population with a medical home coupled with consistent provider care and access to other medical experts from Lurie Children’s has been very successful. “We were able to identify patients with certain medical conditions that have benefited from this affiliation,” said Dr. Frisby-Zedan.  Patients are now able to stay at Rush through this affiliation allowing us to offer children additional expertise and subspecialty care across both hospitals when patients need it, she added.

Offering in-house infusions for patients would bring this affiliation to another level which is a goal that Dr. Frisby-Zedan is working towards.

Six others from the division also participate in this program offering inpatient rounding. This includes Deirdre Bartlett, MD, MS;  H. Rhodes Hambrick, MD, MS; Stella R. Kilduff, MD; Jill Krissberg, MD, MS; Carlos C. Romero, MD, MS; and Priya Verghese, MD, MPH.

In addition to the affiliation with Rush as well as increasing providers and clinic times at various suburban outpatient centers, there was another population to consider-the underserved communities of Chicago. Carlos Romero, MD, MS,  a previous fellow and patient himself, sees patients on the mobile unit in the underserved neighborhoods of Chicago. Expanding reach and bringing specialty care to those who would otherwise find it difficult to travel to one of the hospital-based clinics is not only an initiative for the Division of Nephrology but for Lurie Children’s overall. 

Strong Numbers, Outcomes and Three Double-Organ Transplants in 2025

Lurie Children’s continues to be one of the premier pediatric kidney transplant centers in the nation with 33 completed kidney transplants in 2025 making it consistently one of the largest in the country. The program is built on the commitment to finding a path for even the most complex transplant cases, including patients with complex vascular anatomy, co-morbidities, or patients requiring double-organ procedures. In 2025, the hospital completed three double-organ transplants, providing comprehensive care for children with multiple organ failure.

Lurie Children’s has one of the most active pediatric living donor transplant programs among children’s hospitals in the United States. Lurie Children’s also participates in national kidney paired donation programs, or “kidney swaps,” connecting donor–recipient pairs who aren’t compatible with others across the country. These innovative programs create transplant chains that make it possible for more children to receive a needed transplant. As a result of these programs, more than 30% of the kidney transplants performed this year at Lurie Children’s have been from living donors.