Professor Robert Schrier was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, where he undertook his schooling and undergraduate medical training. He did his postdoctoral training in prestigious institutions including the Harvard University School of Medicine and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston.

The Viet Nam war interrupted his research training at the Brigham when I red active duty as a physician in the United States Army Medical Corp. During his 31/2 years from '66-'96 at Walter Reed Hospital where he cared for soldiers with acute renal failure, he was also able to perform research at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. 

 

(WRAIR) including 8 months research with Professor de Wardener at Charing Cross Medical School in London. In addition to his studies in acute renal which delineated rhabdomyolisis as an important factor in heat stroke induced acute renal failure, Schrier continued his research in body fluid volume regulation.

 

In careful collaborative studies the purported discovery of natriuretic hormone claims by prominent workers in the field were refuted.

This study led to a focus of many investigators on the physical factors controlling renal sodium excretion. In this regard, Schrier and deWardener authored a major review on physical factors and renal sodium excretion.

 

After his Viet Nam War duty, Schrier accepted a position in the Division of Nephrology and the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California in San Francisco. This was productive research time in which he demonstrated the important role of hematocrit and viscosity on tubular sodium reabsorption.

 

After 4 years at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco, he moved to Denver, Colorado, where he has been Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine for the past 26 years and concurrently Head of the Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension for 16 of those 26 years. In 1989 he was elected a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. 

 

He has been President of Association of American Physicians, the American Society of Nephrology, the National Kidney Foundation and the International Society of Nephrology. He has authored over 800 scientific papers and edited 45 books in renal medicine, geriatrics, drug usage and kidney disease. His research contributions,which are the focus for this prestigious award, centre on the pathogenesis of acute renal failure, genetic renal disorders, mechanisms of renal cell injury, diabetic nephropathy and renal and hormonal control of body fluid volume in cirrhosis, cardiac failure, nephritic syndrome and pregnancy. He has brought to his research a unique combination of expertise in body fluid control mechanisms, renal function and cardiovascular function.

His unifying hypothesis of sodium and water regulation in health and disease stimulated widespread interest in the biomedical science community. Professor Schrier's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for the last thirty years.

Professor Schrier has received honorary degrees from DePauw University, the University of Colorado, the University of Silesia and the Medical College of Ohio. He has received the highest awards of the American College Physicians (John Philips Award), the National Kidney Foundation (David Hume Award), the American Society of Nephrology (John Peters Award), the International Society of Nephrology (Jean Hamburger Award), the Western Society of Clinical Investigation (Mayo Soley Award) the Association of Professors of Medicine (Robert H Williams Award), the American Kidney Fund (National Torchbearer Award), the Association of America Physicians (Francis Blake Award), Acute Renal Failure Commission (Bywaters Award), the New York Academy of Medicine (The Edward N Gibbs Memorial Award) and the University of Strasburg (Louis Pasteur Medal) for his contributions in biomedical research, education and clinical medicine.

 

In summary, Professor Robert Schrier has been an exemplary clinician, educator and researcher in a unique combination of expertise in body fluid control mechanisms, renal function and cardiovascular function. He is very worthy to be the third recipient of the Grand Hamdan International Award, for the year 2003-2004.