“Paying attention to improving the welfare of children with kidney disease and their families, especially those living in peripheral areas, is of the utmost importance to me.” This is the mission of Dr. Oded Volovelsky, director of Hadassah’s Pediatric Nephrology Unit, who was just elected chair of the Israeli Pediatric Nephrology Association.
Dr. Volovelsky, a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, completed his pediatric residency at Hadassah Medical Center and his nephrology residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where he received a doctorate as part of Hadassah Medical Center’s research-physician program.
He then established a world-renowned research laboratory focused primarily on finding ways to prevent kidney disease in adulthood and researching kidney disease in children with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Today, his research includes many international collaborations, and he recently won a joint research grant with Monash University in Australia for the study of the prevention of chronic kidney disease in premature babies.
The clinical unit at Hadassah focuses on treating the patient as a whole and not just his illness. The clinics at the center work in cooperation with experts in such areas as kidney stones, urinary tract malformations, oncologic diseases, and neurocutaneous diseases, including the multidisciplinary TSC Center.
The Israeli Pediatric Nephrology Association serves as the professional umbrella organization coordinating doctors treating infants, children, and adolescents with kidney disease. This field includes the treatment of acute and chronic kidney failure, malformations in the structure of the kidney and urinary system, and congenital or acquired disease in the kidney, as well as evaluation and treatment of kidney stones and urinary tract infections, hypertension, and other diseases.
“The field of pediatric nephrology,” says Dr. Volovelsky, has undergone a tremendous transformation in recent years based on new genetic and molecular tests, which provide more precise treatments for rare kidney diseases. In addition, advances in dialysis treatment capabilities for unstable low-weight children, including newborns, are creating an exciting revolution in the field.
“I am excited and proud of this new appointment,” notes Dr. Volovelsky. “My ambition is to advance the field of pediatric nephrology in Israel and in general together with my colleagues, while creating clinical collaborations and studies between centers in Israel and around the world.”