Who is Jeff Sands?
Researcher and Clinician
Jeff was born in Boston, MA. When he was young, he
was fascinated by the manned space program and by the US going to the moon
in the 1960s. That started his interest in science. In addition, he always
enjoyed math. However, he found that he enjoyed applying math more than
performing pure math.
Experiments Beat Modeling
When it came time to select a college, Jeff chose
Harvard College. He chose Harvard because he felt that it would provide a
top-notch liberal arts education while also providing a solid math and
science education. While in college, Jeff began looking for a senior honor
thesis project.
Originally, he wanted to perform mathematical
modeling of proximal tubule function in the kidney. However, his advisor
steered him to a renal physiologist at Harvard Medical School (Harvard had
a Physiology Department in the 1970s). Jeff was allowed to design and
execute his own experiments using electrophysiology. He found this
experience to be extremely interesting and wanted to continue studying
renal physiology. He knew this would mean either pursuing a Ph.D. or an
M.D. degree. He graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in applied math in
1977.
M.D. or Ph.D.?
As he was trying to decide between pursuing an M.D.
or a Ph.D. degree, Jeff’s advisors suggested he should think about getting
an M.D. degree, since they thought that researchers with M.D. degrees had
an easier time getting National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants to
support their research. Of course, as it turns out, the opposite is true.
However, Jeff followed their advice and applied to medical school at
Boston University School of Medicine.
Medical School
Once in medical school Jeff focused on internal
medicine and then did a nephrology fellowship so that he could get back to
doing renal physiology. He found that studying the urine concentrating
mechanism was, for him, an excellent combination of applied math,
mathematical modeling, and intriguing physiological questions.
After Dr. Sands graduated from Medical School in
1981, he first did an Internal Medicine residency at the University of
Chicago. After 2 years, he moved to Bethesda, MD, to the NIH for a
postdoctoral fellowship in renal physiology. In 1988, he did a clinical
nephrology fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, as a condition
of his joining the faculty at that school in 1989.
Being an M.D. and a Medical School Faculty Member
Currently, Dr. Sands holds the positions of Professor of Medicine
and of Physiology, Director of the Renal Division, Executive Vice-Chair of
the Department of Medicine, and Associate Dean for Clinical and
Translational Research at Emory University. His job involves research,
teaching, patient care, and administration.
His major focus is on his NIH-funded renal physiology research. Dr.
Sands’ research is directed at understanding the physiology of the renal
inner medulla and the urine concentrating mechanism. He is currently
studying the molecular physiology of urea transporters and water channels.
Dr. Sands uses a combination of isolated perfused tubule studies to
measure transport, antibodies to measure changes in abundance,
phosphorylation, or location of the transport proteins in kidney tissue, and
and cell culture models to explore signaling pathways that regulate
transport. Studies are performed in rats treated to produce physiological and pathophysiological models of human conditions
and in genetically engineered mice. Research areas being
addressed include: 1) long-term regulation of urea transport proteins in
rat models of human diseases, such as diabetes, and 2) signaling mechanisms by which
vasopressin rapidly regulates urea transport.
Dr. Sands’ research group includes other faculty members, post-doctoral
fellows, undergraduate students, and research specialists. Each summer,
2-3 undergraduate students spend 2-3 months in research working with
various members of the “Urea Group” team. In addition, Dr. Sands gives
lectures to medical students and teaches students, residents, and
fellows on rounds in the teaching hospitals. As Director of the Renal
Division, Dr. Sands leads a group of 40 faculty and 20 fellows. The
majority of Dr. Sands administrative activities focus on research.
For Fun
Dr. Sands enjoys playing tennis and bridge, watching
sports, and doing things with his kids.
He also is active in his professional societies
(American Physiological Society and American Society for Nephrology). For
APS, Dr. Sands has dual roles: that of Editor of American Journal of
Physiology: Renal Physiology and an elected member of the APS Council,
which governs the Society.
Advice for a Graduate Student
This is difficult to answer since I was never a
graduate student. My advice would be to learn as many techniques as
possible, publish papers, and read successful grants written by your
mentor(s).
Recent Publications
1. Kim YM, Kim W, Lee HW, Kim J, Kwon HM, Klein JD, Sands JM, Kim DU.
Urea and NaCl regulate UT-A1 urea transporter in opposing directions via
TonEBP pathway during osmotic diuresis.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 296: F67-F77, 2009.
2. Feng X, Huang H, Yang Y, Fröhlich O, Klein JD, Sands JM, Chen G.
Caveolin-1 directly interacts with UT-A1 urea transporter: the role of
caveolae/lipid rafts in UT-A1 regulation at the cell membrane.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 296: F1514-F1520, 2009.
3. Mistry AC, Mallick R, Klein JD, Weimbs T, Sands JM, Fröhlich O.
Syntaxin specificity of aquaporins in the inner medullary collecting
duct.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 297: F292-F300, 2009.
4. Froehlich O, Aggarwal D, Klein JD, Kent KJ, Yang Y, Gunn RB, Sands JM.
Stimulation of UT-A1-mediated transepithelial urea flux in MDCK cells by
lithium.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 294: F518-F524, 2008.
5. Bedford JJ, Leader JP, Jing R, Walker LJ, Klein JD, Sands JM, Walker
RJ. Amiloride restores renal medullary osmolytes in lithium-induced
nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 294: F812-F820, 2008.
6. Blount MA, Sands JM, Kent KJ, Smith TD, Price SR, Klein JD. Candesartan
augments compensatory changes in medullary transport proteins in the
diabetic rat kidney.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 294: F1448-F1452, 2008.
7. Blount MA, Mistry AC, Froehlich O, Price SR, Chen G, Sands JM, Klein
JD. Phosphorylation of UT-A1 urea transporter at serines 486 and 499 is
important for vasopressin-regulated activity and membrane accumulation.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 295: F295-F299, 2008.
8. Blessing NW, Blount MA, Sands JM, Martin CF, Klein JD. Urea
transporters UT-A1 and UT-A3 accumulate in the plasma membrane in
response to increased hypertonicity.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 295: F1336 - F1341, 2008.
9. Chen G, Huang H, Fröhlich O, Yang Y, Klein JD, Price SR, Sands JM. MDM2
E3 ubiquitin ligase mediates UT-A1 urea transporter ubiquitination and
degradation.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 295: F1528 - F1534, 2008.
10. Zhang Y, Sands JM, Kohan DE, Nelson RD, Martin CF, Carlson NG,
Kamerath CD, Ge Y, Klein JD, Kishore BK. Potential role of purinergic
signaling in urinary concentration in inner medulla: insights from P2Y2
receptor gene knockout mice.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 295: F1715-F1724, 2008.
11. Jeon US, Han K-H, Park S-H, Lee SD, Sheen MR, Jung J-Y, Kim WY, Sands
JM, Kim J, Kwon HM. Downregulation of renal TonEBP in hypokalemic rats.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 293: F408-F415, 2007.
12. Blount MA, Klein JD, Martin CF, Tchapyjnikov D, Sands JM. Forskolin
stimulates phosphorylation and membrane accumulation of UT-A3.
Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 293: F1308-F1313, 2007.
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