FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 16, 2001

CONTACT: Carole Gan
(916) 734-9047

UC DAVIS CHIEF OF NEPHROLOGY HONORED AS "CHAMPION OF HOPE"

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Northern California chapter of the National Kidney Foundation will honor kidney specialist George Kaysen with its Champion of Hope award on Saturday, May 19 at the Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco.

The award recognizes individuals whose outstanding contributions in the fields of private industry and health care have provided tremendous strides toward improving the quality of life for residents of California with kidney disease and individuals in need of life saving organ transplants. Kaysen is one of three honorees selected this year.

"George Kaysen has played a dominant role in establishing and refining the practice of modern nephrology," said Fred Meyers, chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at UC Davis. "He set new standards of care for patients with renal failure and nephrotic syndrome, continuously taught residents and fellows from the Bay Area and Central Valley in training programs for kidney disease, and is a vital member of the international community of physicians and researchers devoted to research and treatment of kidney disease."

Professor and chief of the Division of Nephrology at UC Davis and an associate chief of staff for research at the Veteran's Administration Northern California Health Care System, Kaysen has devoted his career to the cure of kidney disease and to the care of patients.

A world-renowned physician and scientist, Kaysen has made significant contributions to the understanding of hypoalbuminemia in renal failure and of nephrotic syndrome, two conditions common in patients with kidney disease. He discovered that inflammation was the primary cause of hypoalbuminemia and was an important cause of anemia and resistance to erythropoietin in dialysis patients. This work led to changes in the direction of renal research to establish the cause and proper treatment of inflammation.

His discovery that high-protein diets in patients with nephrotic syndrome actually lead to the loss of more protein in the blood resulted in the elimination of high-protein diets in these patients. He also found that elevated blood lipid levels could be effectively reduced by treating patients with a blood pressure medication, which also reduces urinary proteins.

Kaysen is a member of the American Society of Nephrology, Government Relationship Ad-hoc Working Group Committee, ASN, Washington, D.C.; president of the International Society of Renal Nutrition and Metabolism (2001-2002) and reviewer/member of the Medical Research Advisory Group Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, D.C. He reviews for and serves on the editorial boards of many publications, including the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, American Journal of Nephrology, and Kidney International.

Copies of all news releases from UC Davis Health System are available on the Web at http://news.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu