University of California San Francisco

Minnie Sarwal, MD
Minnie
Sarwal
MD, PhD
Professor of Surgery, Medicine, Pediatrics
Professor (Adj), Stanford University, UC Berkeley
Director, Precision Transplant Medicine, UCSF
Co-Director, T32 Training Grant, Transplant Surgery, UCSF

Address

505 Parnassus Avenue, #M893D
San Francisco, CA 94117
United States

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 415-353-4043

    Biography

    Minnie M. Sarwal M.D., Ph.D., FRCP, DCH is Professor in Residence, Department of Surgery, Division of Transplant Surgery, Co-Director of the Pancreas Kidney Transplant Program, Director of the Precision Transplant Medicine, Sarwal Lab at UCSF. Sarwal is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in the fields of renal and transplant medicine, genomics, proteomics and immunology. The Sarwal Lab supported precision and predictive diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for organ transplant recipients by discovering new treatments and investigative approaches using in vitro, CRISPR-Cas9, and animal KO models relevant to kidney disease, FSGS and transplant rejection. Sarwal was Professor of Surgery, Pediatrics and Immunology at Stanford University, Medical Director of the Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital and Director of the Sarwal Lab for 16 years prior to joining UCSF in 2014.

    Sarwal received her M.D. from Calcutta Medical College in India, completed her residency in the UK, and a fellowship in Pediatric Nephrology at Guy's Hospital, London, UK. She earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from Cambridge University (Christ's College) where she worked with Nobel Laureate Sydney Brenner on the synthetic mapping of human and puffer fish G proteins. Sarwal also holds a Diploma in Child Health from London, UK, and degrees from the Royal College of Physicians, UK (MRCP) and is an elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, UK in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of medicine. Sarwal is a member of numerous national and international societies including the ASN, IPTA, AST, TTS, and IPNA. She is Chief Editor, Frontiers in Nephrology (a nature journal), AE for Clinical Transplantation and has published in and served as AE/reviewer for many other scientific journals inclusive of the Nature Medicine, NEJM, AJT, Nature Communications, PNAS, Journal of Immunology and Journal of Experimental Medicine.

    Sarwal has also been the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, including the Order of Excellence in Scientific Research (Cambridge, UK, 2002), the Dean's Teaching Award (2005), the Junior Faculty Award from the CCIS (2003-6), recognized Key Opinion Leader in Organ Transplantation by the Transplantation Society (2007-2009), elected Senator at Large for the Stanford Faculty Senate (2005-10), Faculty Senate UCSF (2015-17), the TTS-Roche Award for Outstanding Achievement Transplantation Science (Clinical; 2010), and the Cunio Richardson NKF Award for Scientific Excellence (2012). She also serves on the FDA Science Board for her third term, and is current Chair of the NIH-SBIR review study section and is Chair of the Department of Defense, Tissue Transplantation section. She is also a successful entrepreneur scientist and a founding member of the Rosenman Institute at UCSF.

    Videos

    Education

    Education

    La Martiniere, Calcutta, India, English Language and Literature, I.S.C.,1981

    Calcutta Medical College, Calcutta, India, M.D.,1985

    Diploma in Child Health (D.C.H.), London, UK, with distinction 1989

    Cambridge University, U.K, Ph.D.,1995

     

    Residencies

    Residency (Medicine and Surgery), Calcutta Medical College, India, 06/1986-06/1987

    Senior House Officer (Pediatrics and Surgery), Calcutta Medical College, India. Advisors: Sir Keith Peters, Sir Cyril Chantler and Sydney Brenner, 06/1987-02/1988

    Senior House Officer, General Pediatrics & Neonates, Good Hope Hospital, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, UK, 02/-07/1989

    Senior House Officer, General Pediatrics & Neonates, Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Granthan (GKGH), UK, 03/1988-02/1989

    Senior House Officer, Neonatology, Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI), Leicester, UK, 08/-11/1989

    Senior House Officer, General Pediatrics & Neonates, Leicester General Hosp. (LGH), Leicester, UK, 12/89- 03/90

    Registrar, Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgical Unit, Groby Road Hospital, (GRH), Leicester, UK, 04/90-07/90

    Senior House Officer, Pediatric Nephrology Unit, Guy's Hospital, London, UK, 08/90-10/90

    Lecturer/Registrar, Pediatric Unit, Guy's Hospital, London, UK, 10/90-09/91

    Lecturer/Senior Registrar,  Pediatric Nephrology, Dept. of Pediatrics, Guy's Hospital, London, U.K., 10/92-07/95

    Clinical Expertise

    Acute Kidney Failure
    Chronic Kidney Disease
    End-Stage Renal Disease
    Kidney Transplant Clinical Trials
    Pediatric Bone and Mineral Disorders
    Pediatric Kidney Transplantation
    Pediatric Transplant Nephrology
    Transplant Immunology
    Oxalosis
    Methylmalonic acidemia
    Cystinosis

    Clinical Trials

    1. Related Conditions: COVID-19, Acute Kidney Injury, Kidney Injury, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome| Start Date: | End Date:

    Program Affiliations

    UCSF Biomedical Sciences (BMS) Program

    Associate Member, UCSF Liver Center

    Grants and Funding

    • Filling a Void of Research (FAVOR) Training for Transplant Surgeons | NIH | 2016-08-01 - 2026-07-31 | Role: Co-Principal Investigator
    • Mapping Immune Responses to CMV in Renal Transplant Recipients | NIH | 2017-08-01 - 2022-07-31 | Role: Co-Principal Investigator
    • CD40 autoantibody and FSGS recurrence | NIH | 2017-04-01 - 2022-03-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
    • Drug Repositioning in Diabetic Nephropathy | NIH | 2016-09-01 - 2020-07-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
    • Transplant injury biology and monitoring by urine proteomics | NIH | 2009-07-01 - 2016-08-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
    • Urinary Proteome Monitoring for Transplant Injury | NIH | 2010-08-23 - 2015-09-19 | Role: Principal Investigator
    • Gene and Cytokine Expression in Tolerance and GVHD | NIH | 2009-09-25 - 2014-08-31 | Role: Co-Principal Investigator
    • A Proteomics Research Resource for Integrative Biology | NIH | 2003-09-15 - 2013-06-30 | Role: Co-Investigator
    • General Clinical Research Center | NIH | 1978-12-01 - 2011-11-30 | Role: Co-Investigator
    • Novel Urinary Proteomic Biomarkers for Acute Renal Transplant Rejection | NIH | 2009-06-01 - 2011-05-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
    • Defining Biomarkers in Pediatric Renal Transplantation | NIH | 2004-06-01 - 2009-05-31 | Role: Principal Investigator

    Research Narrative

    As principal Investigator on numerous multicenter clinical trials, both industry and institutional, Sarwal has developed extensive expertise in the design and execution of clinical studies. While at Stanford, Sarwal conducted the first successful U.S. steroid avoidance trial and the first dosing safety trial for Rituximab in pediatric renal transplantation.

    In 2009, Sarwal founded, Organ-i, a Stanford University spin-out to develop and commercialize her pioneering work. Organ-i leveraged 15 years of research and over $20M in NIH grants. The company's goal is to improve the clinical management of transplant patients globally by commericializing non-invasive tests to monitor and predict organ health for transplant recipients.

    Sarwal is credited with the introduction of (k-SORT), a Kidney Solid Organ Rejection Test, the company's lead product, as well as a pipeline of molecular assays focused on post-transplant rejection monitoring and allograft tolerance. In June 2014. Immucor, Inc., a global leader in transfusion and transplantation diagnostics, announced the acquisition of Organ-i and retained Sarwal as a scientific advisory role to advance the Organ-i pipeline.

    Research Interests

    Organ diseases

    Transplant immunobiology of rejection and tolerance

    Genomics

    Proteomics

    Antibiomics

    Metabolomics

    GVHD

    Hepatitis B, C and HIV

    Publications

    MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM A TOTAL OF 255
    1. Long-term follow-up of beta cell replacement therapy in 10 HIV-infected patients with renal failure secondary to type 1 diabetes mellitus.
      Roll GR, Posselt AM, Freise J, Baird J, Syed S, Mo Kang S, Hirose R, Szot GL, Zarinsefat A, Feng S, Worner G, Sarwal M, Stock PG| | PubMed
    2. Non-radiological assessment of kidney stones using the kidney injury test (KIT), a spot urine assay.
      Yang JYC, Sarwal RD, Ky K, Dong V, Stoller M, Sarwal MM, Chi T| | PubMed
    3. Further Evidence That the Soluble Urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor Does Not Directly Injure Mice or Human Podocytes.
      Harel E, Shoji J, Abraham V, Miller L, Laszik ZG, King A, Dobi D, Szabo G, Hann B, Sarwal MM, Craik CS, Vincenti F| | PubMed
    4. Assessment of 19 Genes and Validation of CRM Gene Panel for Quantitative Transcriptional Analysis of Molecular Rejection and Inflammation in Archival Kidney Transplant Biopsies.
      Sigdel T, Nguyen M, Liberto J, Dobi D, Junger H, Vincenti F, Laszik Z, Sarwal MM| | PubMed
    5. Noninvasive Urinary Monitoring of Progression in IgA Nephropathy.
      Yang JYC, Sarwal RD, Fervenza FC, Sarwal MM, Lafayette RA| | PubMed
    6. A urinary Common Rejection Module (uCRM) score for non-invasive kidney transplant monitoring.
      Sigdel TK, Yang JYC, Bestard O, Schroeder A, Hsieh SC, Liberto JM, Damm I, Geraedts ACM, Sarwal MM| | PubMed
    7. A Modified Injector and Sample Acquisition Protocol Can Improve Data Quality and Reduce Inter-Instrument Variability of the Helios Mass Cytometer.
      Lee BH, Kelly G, Bradford S, Davila M, Guo XV, Amir ED, Thrash EM, Solga MD, Lannigan J, Sellers B, Candia J, Tsang J, Montgomery RR, Tamaki SJ, Sigdel TK, Sarwal MM, Lanier LL, Tian Y, Kim C, Hinz D, Peters B, Sette A, Rahman AH| | PubMed
    8. Characterizing pre-transplant and post-transplant kidney rejection risk by B cell immune repertoire sequencing.
      Pineda S, Sigdel TK, Liberto JM, Vincenti F, Sirota M, Sarwal MM| | PubMed
    9. A Novel Multi-Biomarker Assay for Non-Invasive Quantitative Monitoring of Kidney Injury.
      Watson D, Yang JYC, Sarwal RD, Sigdel TK, Liberto JM, Damm I, Louie V, Sigdel S, Livingstone D, Soh K, Chakraborty A, Liang M, Lin PC, Sarwal MM| | PubMed
    10. Assessment of Postdonation Outcomes in US Living Kidney Donors Using Publicly Available Data Sets.
      Chen J, Bhattacharya S, Sirota M, Laiudompitak S, Schaefer H, Thomson E, Wiser J, Sarwal MM, Butte AJ| | PubMed