David Leaf

Dr. Leaf is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Clinical and Translational Research in Acute Kidney Injury in the Division of Renal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He conducts patient-oriented research in acute kidney injury (AKI) and critical illness. He uses epidemiologic, translational, genetic, and interventional approaches to address clinically important questions in patients with AKI. Current areas of investigation include dysregulated mineral and iron homeostasis as novel pathways and potential therapeutic targets in AKI, as well as investigation of the nephrotoxicity of novel cancer therapies.

Dr. Leaf is the principal investigator on two R01 grants. He serves on the Editorial Boards of Kidney International and Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, and is a member of the Mass General Brigham Institutional Review Board. His publications have appeared in leading medical journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, BMJ, JAMA Internal Medicine, Nature Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, and Kidney International. His research has been featured in national media including The New York Times, Washington Post, USA today, CNN, and NPR.

Dr. Leaf is passionate about academic nephrology, and has received research and teaching awards from NYU, Columbia, and Harvard.

Education

• MMSc Harvard Medical School (2012 — 2014)
• Doctor of Medicine (MD) New York University School of Medicine (2004 — 2008)
• Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) University of Pennsylvania (2000 — 2004)

Awards and Honors

• 2004 Summa Cum Laude
• 2004 Phi Beta Kappa
• 2008 Andrew Alan Friedland Memorial Award
• 2008 Excellence in Research
• 2011 Excellence in Research
• 2013 Excellence in teaching
• 2014 Excellence in teaching
• 2015 Chair’s Research Award
• 2018 Carl W. Gottschalk Research Scholar Award
• 2018 Outstanding Reviewer Award
• 2019 Chair’s Research Award
• 2021 Best Paper Award
• 2022 Best Clinical/Translational Cancer Immunotherapy Paper Award