Ashima Gulati, MD, PhD

2026 Norman Siegel Research Scholar Grant

Institution: Children's National Hospital and Children's National Research and Innovation Campus

Project Title: Defining Immunomodulatory Mechanisms in Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD)

How would you sum up your overall research focus in one sentence?

The proposed work focuses on understanding kidney-immune cell interactions that drive the progression of kidney disease in ARPKD.

Provide a brief overview of the research you will conduct with help from the grant.

Using a novel mouse model and single-cell RNA sequencing, this project will define the precise timing, origin, and transcriptomic landscape of kidney-immune cell interactions driving ARPKD progression.

What inspired you to focus your research in this area?

As a pediatric nephrologist and PKD-focused physician-scientist, my research is driven by the clinical need to address the high morbidity and early-onset kidney disease affecting children with ARPKD.

What impact do you hope your research will have on patients?

I hope this research will establish the groundwork for ultimately studying targeted, immune-based interventions that favorably alter kidney disease progression in ARPKD.

What are your career goals at the end of the grant period? Five years out? Ten years out?

My immediate goal is to leverage this award to publish our findings on ARPKD epithelial-immune networks and secure independent R01-level funding. Over the next decade, I intend to translate our laboratory's mechanistic insights into human clinical trials for ARPKD therapeutics.

What has surprised you most about your career?

What has surprised me most is how seamlessly my clinical insights as a PKD-focused pediatric nephrologist and my basic science research intersect, motivate, and inform one another. While I initially viewed patient care and bench research as distinct tracks, I am continually amazed by how synergistically these two worlds drive each other, keeping me deeply committed and motivated to answer the most relevant and clinically meaningful questions.

What are the major challenges facing nephrology research today?

The major challenges facing nephrology and pediatric nephrology research in particular, include the shortage of physician-scientist workforce, a lack of true-to-phenotype experimental models for early-onset genetic kidney disorders, and the ethical and logistical difficulties of acquiring pediatric patient tissue for molecular validation.

In one sentence, please describe the importance of having grant funding available through KidneyCure.

Grant funding through KidneyCure is critically helpful as it provides the essential resources for early-career physician-scientists, serving as a vital bridge to securing independent R01-level funding to sustain a long-term academic career.

What advice would you give to others to encourage them to apply for this grant funding?

I highly encourage others to apply because KidneyCure provides not only a vital funding bridge but also invaluable mentorship and collaborative networking opportunities within a large, academically vibrant nephrology community.

Something you may not know about me is…

that my passion for learning and listening to the classical genre of music intersects with my identity as a physician-scientist. Both fields require rigorous discipline and precision, directly shaping the attention to detail and patience required to appreciate a complex art form and to contribute to scientific advancement.

In my free time, I like to…

learn and listen to the classical genre of music in addition to spending time with family.