Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS
Areas of expertise: Kidney transplant medicine
Locations: Main Building
About Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS
Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS, is Medical Director of the Kidney Transplant and Hand Transplant programs at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She leads the Kidney Transplant Transition Clinic Program, and is also the founder and Director of the CHOPed Cooking Camp for youth with kidney disease. She is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Amaral completed her undergraduate training at Wesleyan University, with a major in Western European History, Philosophy and Literature. She received her MD from the Medical College of Pennsylvania-Hahnemann University School of Medicine, and completed her internship and residency in pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. She completed her pediatric nephrology fellowship training at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, and received a Master of Health Science Degree in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Amaral served as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University-Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta from 2006-2011 before she joined CHOP.
Dr. Amaral’s research is focused on kidney transplantation with particular interests in reducing treatment burden for adolescents and young adults — from designing studies to make daily medication regimens easier to diagnosing transplant injury earlier using innovative, non-invasive approaches. She is currently the principal investigator of U-REAACT, a text messaging intervention to promote treatment adherence in youth with kidney transplants and spina bifida. She is also co-principal investigator of an international study, VIRTUUS, to validate urinary biomarker signals associated with rejection and infections in children with kidney transplants. Her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Amaral is a staunch public policy advocate for children and young adults with renal disease and their caregivers. She serves on the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology (ASPN) Council, and previously chaired the ASPN Public Policy Committee. She has served on the United Network for Organ Sharing Pediatrics and Kidney Committees. She regularly engages in Capitol Hill Advocacy Days with the ASPN and American Society of Nephrology.
Titles
Attending Physician
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Certifications
Nephrology – American Board of Internal Medicine
Pediatrics – American Board of Pediatrics
Awards and Honors
2022, Philadelphia Magazine's Top Doctors in Pediatric Nephrology
2016, Castle Connolly Top Doctor, Philadelphia, 2016
2015, Castle Connolly Top Doctor, United States, 2015-2016
2015, Selection to the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology Leadership Development Program
2010, Healthcare Heroes Finalist, Physician category, Atlanta Business Chronicle
2010, Guide to America’s Top Pediatricians, Pediatric Nephrology, Consumers’ Research Council of America
2008, Golden Apple Honorable Mention Award, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Health Education Expo, recognizing outstanding accomplishment in healthcare education
2008, Pediatric Research Funding Recipient
- National Institutes of Health Pediatric Loan Repayment Program
- Assessing changes in self-efficacy and racial differences in facilitators and barriers to adherence in a multi-disciplinary kidney transplant clinic
2008, Clinical Innovator Award for New Program Development, Emory University, Department of Pediatrics
2007, Best Doctors in America, 2007-2016
2006, Joseph W. Crooks Faculty Development Award in Children’s Health, Emory University, Department of Pediatrics
2006, National Kidney Foundation Travel Award
2004, National Kidney Foundation Mini-Grant recipient
2003, Renal Disease Epidemiology Training Grant recipient
2002, American Society of Pediatric Nephrology Travel Award
1997, MCP-Hahnemann Student Research Fellowship Award
1995, Primary Care Scholar, Penn. State Univ. College of Medicine, Primary Care Initiative Program
Leadership and Memberships
Memberships in Professional Organizations
International
2005-present, International Pediatric Nephrology Association
2006-present, International Pediatric Transplant Association
National
CHOP Clinical Trials Research Affinity Group, Advisory committee member
2015-2018, Patient Affairs Committee, At Large Member, Chair of Best Practices in Peer Mentoring Subcommittee
2016 - Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)/United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
2007-present American Society of Transplantation
- Pediatric Community of Practice (PCOP) Committee Member (2009-present)
2006-present, American Society of Nephrology
2003-present, American Society of Pediatric Nephrology
- Public Policy Committee Member (2008-present)
- Co-Chair (2015-2018)
- Program Committee, Member (2012-present), Co-Chair (2015-2017), and Chair (2018)
Editorial and Academic Positions
Editorial positions
Reviewer
2013-present, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology
2011-present, Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology
2010, Pediatrics
2009-present, American Journal of Transplantation
2008-present, Pediatric Nephrology
2007-present, Pediatric Transplantation
Academic positions
2010-present, Co-leader, Clinical Outcomes and Research in Public Health, Transition of Care Workgroup, Emery University, Department of Pediatrics, Pediatrics Research Center
2013-present, Comprehensive Exam Review Committee Masters of Science in Clinical Epidemiology Program, the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
2012-present, Co-Leader, Transition Special Interest Group, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Education & training
Graduate Degree
MHS - Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Medical Degree
MD - Medical College of Pennsylvania-Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, PA
Internship
Pediatrics - Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Residency
Pediatrics - Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Fellowship
Pediatric Nephrology - Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Publications
Publications
2016
Sandra Amaral, Blayne Amir Sayed, Nancy Kutner, Rachel Patzer. Survival Benefits of Preemptive Kidney Transplantation among Pediatric End-Stage Renal Disease Patients in the United States: 2000-2012. Kidney Int. 2016 Nov;90(5):1100-1108. PMID: 27653837
Delphine Nelson, Alicia Neu, Alison Abraham, Sandra Amaral, Donald Batisky, Jeffrey Fadrowski. Immunogenicity of Human Papillomavirus Recombinant Vaccine (Gardasil®) in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2016 May 6;11(5):776-84. Epub 2016 Apr 7. PMID: 27055465
2015
Jordan Gilleland Marchak, PhD, Bonney Reed-Knight, PhD, Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS, Laura Mee, PhD, Ronald L Blount, PhD. Providers’ assessment of transition readiness among adolescent and young adult kidney transplant recipients. Pediatr Transplant. 2015 Dec;19(8):849-57. Epub 2015 Oct 27. PMID: 26508553
Brendan Keating, PhD, and iGeneTRAIN Consortium. Design and Implementation of the International Genetics and Translational Research in Transplantation Network (iGeneTRAIN). Transplantation. 2015 Nov; 99(11):2401-12. PMID: 26479416
Rebecca Ruebner, MD, MSCE, Taylor Moatz, Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS, Peter Reese, MD, MSCE, Emily Blumberg, MD, Jodi Smith, MD, Lara Danzinger-Isakov, MD, Ben Laskin, MD. Outcomes among children receiving a kidney transplant in the United States from a hepatitis B core antibody positive donor, 1995-2010. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2015 Oct 14. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 2650147
Goldberg AM, Amaral S, Moudgil A. Developing a framework for evaluating kidney transplantation candidacy in children with multiple comorbidities. Pediatr Nephrol. 2015 Jan;30(1):5-13. doi: 10.1007/s00467-013-2704-4. Epub 2014 Jan 23.
Lectures by Invitation
2016
Amaral S. World’s First Pediatric Bilateral Hand Transplant Surgical Videos. Oral presentation, Boston, MA, June 2016
Amaral S. First Bilateral Hand Transplant in a Child: Short-Term Medical Challenges and Outcomes, oral presentation. American Transplant Congress 2016, Boston, MA, June 2016
Amaral S. The Right Donor for the Right Patient: Advising Pediatric Patients in a New Era of Deceased Donor Allocation and Live Donor Risk Tolerance. American Transplant Congress 2016, Boston, MA, June 2016
Amaral S. How to Stay Healthy before Transplant-Fanconi Syndrome and Cystinosis. Cystinosis Research Foundation Day of Hope 2016, Newport Beach, CA, April 2016
Amaral S. Navigating Cystinosis through Adolescence and Early Adulthood: Challenges and Opportunities. Cystinosis Research Foundation Day of Hope 2016, Newport Beach, CA, April 2016
2015
Amaral S. Crossing the Abyss: Strategies to Improve Collaboration between Pediatric and Adult Providers to Optimize Care and Outcomes during Transfer. American Transplant Congress Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, May 2015
Amaral S. Transitioning Emerging Adults with Nephropathic Cystinosis. Raptor Pharmaceuticals, Austin, TX, May 2015
Amaral S. Combined Organ Transplantation. The Complicated Kidney Transplant Candidate session, Pediatric Academic Societies’ and American Society of Pediatric Nephrology Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, April 2015
Amaral S. Ethics and Racial Disparities in Organ. Allocation National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meeting, Dallas, TX, March 2015
Amaral S. Transitioning to Adolescent and Adult Care Nephropathic Cystinosis: New Insights and Approaches to Care. National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meeting, Dallas, TX, March 2015
Editorials, Reviews, Chapters
2016
Sandra Amaral, Pamela Nathanson, Chris Feudtner. The Ethics of Managing Conflicts in the Era of Social Media. Ethical Issues in Pediatric Organ Transplantation. Springer International Publishing. Switzerland. Edition 1. Volume 66. 2016. ISBN 978-3-319-29185-7.
2014
Sandra Amaral, Lorraine Bell. Management of the recipient in the transition from pediatric to adult care. The Textbook of Organ Transplantation. 1st Edition. In: Kirk AD, Knechtle SJ, Larsen CJ, Madsen JC, Pearson TC, Webber SB, editors. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, UK. September 2014.
2010
Amaral S. Hypertension. In: Shah S, Frank G, editors. Patient encounters: the inpatient pediatrics work-up. 1st ed. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2010. Ch. 18.
2009
Amaral S, Neu A. Clinical methods: growth and development. In: Avner ED, Harmon WE, Niaudet P, Yoshikawa N, editors. Pediatric nephrology. 6th ed. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2009.
Furth S, Amaral S. Themes across renal disease and renal failure. In: Molony D, Craig J, editors. Anemia, in evidence based nephrology. Oxford (UK): Blackwell Publishing; 2009.