President-Elect
Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco; Renal Section Chief at the San Francisco VA Health Care System
Dr. Estrella obtained her medical degree at the University of Texas Health Science Center – Houston where she first gravitated towards nephrology as she learned of the kidney’s intelligent physiology and recognized that nephrologists were the “doctor’s doctor”. Through early clinical experiences, she learned firsthand about the devastation experienced by patients and families affected by kidney disease and endeavored to help alleviate their suffering. To that end, she completed her clinical training in Internal Medicine and Nephrology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. She also obtained a Master’s degree in Health Science at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
She provides care for patients with chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease at the San Francisco VA Health Care System. She greatly appreciates her collaborative clinical relationships with primary care colleagues and values the “wraparound” patient care and clinical practice innovations that VA affords.
She serves as the Executive Director of the Kidney Health Research Collaborative (KHRC) which aims to improve kidney health globally through highly innovative research in a collaborative environment and train and support the next generation of promising young investigators. Her research program focuses on evaluating the utility kidney health biomarkers in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment monitoring across clinical contexts in which current kidney diagnostics are suboptimal, identifying gaps in healthcare delivery for individuals at high-risk for or with kidney disease, and developing strategies that leverage health technology and interdisciplinary teams to close those gaps and ultimately improve clinical outcomes for persons with kidney disease. Her work has been supported with funding from the NIH and VA Health Services Research and Development and Northern California Institute for Research and Education. She is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation.
In addition to patient care and clinical research, some of Dr. Estrella’s most rewarding experiences center upon mentorship and sponsorship of young investigators, particularly those who are underrepresented in medicine. She wholeheartedly believes in a team approach to both research and mentorship, and thus works closely with her colleagues at KHRC and other institutions to help young investigators thrive academically and personally. She was recognized by the American Society in Nephrology with the Mid-Career Distinguished Mentor Award in 2022.
For the past 18 years, Dr. Estrella has volunteered at NKF in various capacities. She has served as a member of the Education Committee, as a grant reviewer and health screening volunteer, and more recently, as the Program Chair for the NKF’s 2024 Spring Clinical Meeting.
“My academic career began with involvement in and support from the NKF. In fact, my very first research grant was from the NKF of Maryland. Their investment was instrumental in my building research skills that still serve me today.”