Martin Pollak

Martin Pollak, MD is the Chief for the Division of Nephrology and the George C. Reisman Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Pollak is a graduate of Princeton University and New York University’s School of Medicine. He did clinical training in Internal Medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, completed his nephrology fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his postdoctoral research training in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School in the laboratory of Jon and Christine Seidman.

Dr. Pollak is a clinical scientist recognized for his studies in the genetic basis of kidney disease. He is known for his contributions to understanding the molecular and genetic basis of diseases of human glomerular function and in understanding the genetic basis the high rate of kidney disease in individuals of recent African descent. Dr. Pollak’s studies have garnered him considerable international stature as a renal molecular geneticist. He has been continuously funded through the NIH since 1992.

His recent notable accomplishments include being elected member to the National Academy of Sciences (2014), selected as the recipient of the American Society of Nephrology, Homer W. Smith Award (2017), and was named Awarded Medical Honoree, from NephCure Kidney International (2020).

Dr. Pollak’s laboratory in interested in the molecular genetic basis of human kidney disease, with a particular focus on diseases of the glomerulus. His laboratory uses a combination of methods, including human genetics, mouse genetics, cell biology, and biochemical tools to understand the connection between phenotype and genotype and to understand glomerular physiology. He and his colleagues have shown that variants in the APOL1 gene both lead to increased rates of kidney disease in people of recent African ancestry, as well as resistance to certain forms of trypanosomal infection. He and his colleagues continue to study the genetics and biology of APOL1-associated kidney disease, a major public health problem in the US. His laboratory hosts bright trainees in nephrology and genetics from BWH, BIDMC, Children's Hospital, as well as outside institutions. At Harvard, Dr. Pollak is admired for his contributions in teaching human genetics to medical and graduate students, and for providing forward-looking clinical care as an attending physician.