Raymond Harris, MD, is the Ann Roscoe Robinson Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension and Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Kidney Disease (VCKD). He has a longstanding interest in understanding mechanisms and developing potential therapeutic interventions for acute and chronic renal injury.
His research has focused on the role of growth factors, and especially the EGF family of growth factors, in mediating the recovery from acute kidney injury and as potential mediators of progressive fibrosis in chronic kidney disease (CKD). His research group investigates the role of the innate immune system in acute kidney infection (AKI) and in subsequent development of CKD. He also has a longstanding interest in underlying mechanisms of progressive kidney injury and especially in diabetic nephropathy. Dr. Harris has a longstanding interest in kidney physiology and pathophysiology and especially in the role of eicosanoids in in the kidney and specifically in defining important physiologic and pathophysiologic roles of cyclooxygenase-2 metabolites in the kidney in regulation of renal epithelial function and blood pressure.
In addition to research funded by the NIH and Veterans Administration, Dr. Harris is spearheading the Vanderbilt-Bayer Scientific Alliance, which has a goal of identifying and developing novel therapies for the treatment of kidney diseases. He is also co-chair of the Kidney Health Initiative, a public/private consortium sponsored by the FDA and the American Society of Nephrology, with over 100 members from industry, patient groups, physician groups and academia.