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Josef
Coresh
,
MD

Professor
- Emeritus

Contact Info

2024 E. Monument Street, Room 2-635, Suite 2-600
Baltimore
Maryland
21287
US        
410 955-0476

Research Interests

Epidemiology; Cardiovascular Disease; Kidney Disease; Biomarkers; Dementia; Hearing Loss; Metabolomics; Proteomics; Genetic Epidemiology
Experiences & Accomplishments
Education
MD
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
1992
PhD
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
1992
MHS
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
1992
Overview
I study risk factors for vascular disease across different organs including the heart, kidney and brain with the goal of improving health and training leaders in research. By collaborating with outstanding individuals across multiple disciplines, I have co-authored over 800 articles cited over 100,000 times. Much of my work has focused on factors mediating excess risk among patients with various stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD), from pre-clinical to end-stage.  Rigorously defining the burden of CKD in the population is an area I have contributed to since co-chairing the guidelines workgroup which standardized CKD staging (chair, Andrew Levey).

 I have enjoyed looking at genetic and biologic risk factors as well as innovative epidemiologic methods and statistical analysis in the conduct of this research. The ultimate objective of my work is to decrease the enormous burden of vascular disease through developing the scientific basis for behavioral and pharmacologic interventions.

Epidemiology and clinical research is most productive when done collaboratively.  I am fortunate to play a leadership role in a number of large collaborations.  The Epidemiology Department, Welch Center and Johns Hopkins University (through funding from Comstock Professorship) produced short videos which partly feature my work and thinking about training future leaders.


Program Leadership at Johns Hopkins:


Director, Cardiovascular Epidemiology Training Program (T32HL07024) and co-director area of concentration.
Director, George W. Comstock Center for Public Health Research and Prevention (GWCC) with over 30 staff members involved in data collection based in Hagerstown, MD.


Research Project Leadership:


Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) - A prospective study of 15,792 individuals recruited between 1986-1988 and followed for 30+ years for cardiovascular disease and to monitor for a wide range of other conditions. This NHLBI funded multi-center contract provides the basis for a wide range of ancillary studies which now average over 150 publications annually. Visit 7 is underway (2017-2018) and future visits are being planned.

Kidney Disease Collaborative Studies - Co-chairing the National Kidney Foundation guidelines on the definition and classification of kidney disease led to an ongoing line of research.

Chronic Kidney Disease Prognosis Consortium (CKD-PC) - Analyzing data from ~80 cohorts across >40 countries including over 10 million individuals.

CKD-EPI Collaboration - The 2009 CKD-EPI Creatinine Equation is replacing the MDRD Study equation as the most widely used equation to estimate GFR globally. Additional studies focus on discovery and validation of novel markers for CKD staging and progression. Recent efforts are focused on novel methods for improved GFR estimation (provisional patent submitted 2014).

CKD Biomarkers Consortium - Explores a wide range of markers by multiple groups in a NIDDK U01 grant. Hopkins is now focusing on metabolomics in CKD. 

NHANES Kidney Disease Studies - Ongoing efforts to provide the most valid estimates of kidney disease prevalence in the U.S. as well as examine concurrent complications and consequences.  

Aging, Cognition, and Hearing Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) Randomized Trial -- co-led with Dr. Frank Lin (ENT), the trial randomized >900 participants to assess whether hearing rehabilitation vs. healthy aging intervention may prevent cognitive decline in older adults. Recruitment exceeded targets and the 3-year follow-up for the primary results will be in 2022.

National committees: My role as vice-chair of the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) workgroup for the Clinical Practice Guideline “Chronic Kidney Disease: Evaluation, Classification and Stratification” has led to ongoing involvement in the international effort to address the public health burden of chronic kidney disease. This has included contributing to Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes(KDIGO) initiative planning controversies meetings in 2004 and 2009 and new guidelines in 2013. Likewise, the NKF-FDA-EMA joint initiatives for improving intermediate outcomes of CKD progression in clinical trials was informed by our work in 2013 and 2018.
Honors & Awards
2020 American Society of Nephrology Belding Scribner Award - outstanding contributions that
have substantially changed the clinical practice of nephrology.
2019 Task Force on Women’s Academic Careers in Medicine Sponsorship Award, JHU-DOM
2016 Association of American Physicians (AAP), member
2014-present - Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers: World’s leading scientific minds top 1% most influential researchers in the world (cited >100,000 times)
2015 - National Kidney Foundation (NKF) David M. Hume Memorial Award - highest honor given to a distinguished scientist-clinician in the field of kidney and urologic diseases

2012 - Inaugural George W Comstock Professor – Johns Hopkins University Endowed chair

2012 - David M. Levine Excellence in Mentoring Award – Johns Hopkins School of Medicine 

2010 - American Heart Association (AHA) Epidemiology and Prevention Mentoring Award

2010 - National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Garabed Eknoyan Award - Making Lives Better for people with kidney disease  

2010 - Co-author on 2009 PNAS paper Cozzarelli Prize for outstanding scientific excellence and originality “Identification of a urate transporter, ABCG2, with a common functional polymorphism causing gout” by Owen M. Woodward, Anna Köttgen, Josef Coresh, Eric Boerwinkle, William B. Guggino, and Michael Köttgen

2005 - American Epidemiological Society (AES) membership

1998, 2001,2015 - Advising, Mentoring & Teaching Recognition Award, JHSPH

1987 - Medical Scientist Training Program Award, JHU
1986 - Princeton University - Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude (George B. Wood Legacy Prize - highest academic standing for junior year at Princeton University)
Select Publications
Pubmed has the latest information [>800 entries cited >100,000 times].
  • Frequently cited kidney disease papers: 1. Levey AS, Coresh J, et al. National Kidney Foundation Practice Guidelines for Chronic Kidney Disease: Evaluation, Classification, and Stratification. Ann Intern Med. 2003, PMID: 12859163. Summary: AJKD 2002; PMID: 11904577].Cited: 9652+3184=12,836 2. Coresh J, et al. Prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States. JAMA. 2007; PMID: 17986697. Cited: 3,321 3. Levey AS...Coresh J. A New Equation to Estimate Glomerular Filtration Rate. Ann Intern Med. 2009; d PMID: 19414839; Cited: 9,409 4. CKD-PC. Association of Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate and Albuminuria with All-cause and Cardiovascular Mortality in General Population Cohorts: a Collaborative Meta-analysis. Lancet. 2010; PMID: 20483451; [Coresh J – CKD-PC steering committee chair]. Cited: 2,051 5. Coresh J, et al. Decline in Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate and Subsequent Risk of End-stage Renal Disease and Mortality. JAMA. 2014; PMID: 24892770; Cited: 288
  • Selected recent papers: 1. Coresh J, et al. Metabolomic Profiling to Improve Glomerular Filtration Rate Estimation: a Proof-of-Concept Study. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2018 2. Selvin E...Coresh J. Prognostic Implications of Single-Sample Confirmatory Testing for Undiagnosed Diabetes: A Prospective Cohort Study. Ann Intern Med. 2018 3. Grams ME, Coresh J. Predicting Timing of Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease and Severely Decreased Glomerular Filtration Rate. 2018
  • Selected papers on dementia and cognition: 1. Alonso A...Coresh J.  Risk of Dementia Hospitalisation Associated with Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Midlife and older Age: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2009 2. Schneider AL... Coresh J,et al. Education and Cognitive Change over 15 years: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2012 3. Gottesman RF...Coresh J,et al. Association Between Midlife Vascular Risk Factors and Estimated Brain Amyloid Deposition. JAMA. 2017, PMID: 28399252. 4. Gottesman RF...Coresh J,et al. Associations Between Midlife Vascular Risk Factors and 25-Year Incident Dementia in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Cohort. JAMA Neurol. 2017, PMID: 28783817.
  • Selected proteomics papers: 1. Tin A, Yu B, Ma J, Masushita K, Daya N, Hoogeveen RC, Ballantyne CM, Couper D, Rebholz CM, Grams ME, Alonso A, Mosley T, Heiss G, Ganz P, Selvin E, Boerwinkle E, Coresh J. Reproducibility and Variability of Protein Analytes Measured Using a Multiplexed Modified Aptamer Assay. J Appl Lab Med 2019;4:30-9.
Projects
Chronic Kidney Disease and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Chronic Kidney Disease Prognosis Consortium
Eye Determinants of Cognition (EyeDOC) Study
Aging, Cognition, and Hearing Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) Randomized Trial
ARIC Cancer