Jared J. Grantham, MD
May 19, 1936 - January 22, 2017
It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Jared James Grantham, M.D.
Born on May 19, 1936, in Dodge City, KS, Dr. Grantham became an international leader in the battle against polycystic kidney disease (PKD). He earned his M.D. from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1962 and then trained as a kidney research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Grantham became an Assistant Professor of Medicine at KUMC in 1969. He served as Director of the Division of Nephrology from 1970 to 1995, and remained at KUMC throughout his career until his retirement as Emeritus University Distinguished Professor in September, 2013. During his distinguished career, Dr. Grantham made numerous significant discoveries in PKD. He demonstrated that kidney cysts grow by fluid secretion and proliferation of epithelial cells, driven by elevated intracellular cyclic AMP, which provided the basis for the development of vasopressin receptor antagonists as a treatment for the disease, and he showed that kidney and cyst growth is exponential and could be used to track progression of the disease and determine prognosis.
Dr. Grantham has been recognized for his remarkable achievements with awards from every major nephrology society, including the Homer Smith Award and John P. Peters Award of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the Jean Hamburger Award of the International Society of Nephrology, and the Lillian Jean Kaplan Prize for Polycystic Kidney Disease Research from the International Society of Nephrology and the PKD Foundation.
In 1989, Dr. Grantham founded and served as the first Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, which has grown to become the highest ranked journal in nephrology. He also served as Program Chairman of ASN in 1985 and was a member of the Council for 10 years. From 1988–1989, he served as Secretary-Treasurer of ASN.
Dr. Grantham was passionate about finding better treatments for his patients and raising money to advance PKD research. He co-founded the PKD Foundation in 1982 with Kansas City businessman, Joseph Bruening, and helped it grow into an organization that has invested more than $40 million in PKD research. In honor of his accomplishments, ASN and the PKD Foundation created the Jared J. Grantham Research Fellowship.
His scholarship provided the foundation for the development of the Kidney Institute at KUMC, which he directed from 2000–2004. Thanks to Dr. Grantham’s vision and leadership, the Kidney Institute has grown to become an internationally recognized research center and leader in PKD research with over 43 faculty members. Dr. Grantham was an inspiring teacher, mentor and friend to many of us and a tireless advocate for patients with kidney disease, and he will be sorely missed.
He is survived by his wife, Carol, 3 children and 10 grandchildren.
Courtesy of James P. Calvet, PhD
APS Memorial Page
PKD Foundation Memorial Page
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