Rate My Professor Ariel Gomez

R. Ariel Gomez, MD, is the Harrison Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Pediatrics-Nephrology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine in Argentina in 1975. Following completion of his residency in pediatrics and service as chief resident at Hospital de Niños “Ricardo Gutiérrez” in Buenos Aires, he undertook fellowships in pediatric nephrology at the University of Iowa (1980-1983) and the University of California, San Francisco (1983-1984). Dr. Gomez joined the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 1984 as an assistant professor and established an independent research program continuously supported by NIH funding since 1988. His career includes appointments as Genentech Professor and Associate Chair for Research in Pediatrics (1997-2000), Interim Vice President for Research and Public Service (2001), and Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies (2003). He returned to full-time research in 2008, now directing the Child Health Research Center in the Department of Pediatrics and holding a courtesy appointment as Professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Biology.

The research in Dr. Gomez's laboratory centers on the mechanisms that govern the identity, plasticity, lineage, and fate of renin-expressing cells, which are essential for kidney vascular development, blood pressure regulation, and fluid-electrolyte homeostasis through the renin-angiotensin system. Utilizing lineage tracing in genetically engineered mice expressing cre recombinase from the renin locus, his team has shown that renin cells derive from Foxd1+ mesenchymal progenitors and function as precursors for renal arteriolar smooth muscle cells, pericytes, mesangial cells, and certain tubular epithelial cells, as well as extrarenal cells. Major discoveries include cAMP pathway-mediated chromatin remodeling via histone acetylation at the renin promoter, critical roles of histone acetyltransferases CBP and p300, Notch signaling through RBP-J for vascular differentiation, and unique renin cell microRNAs (miR-330 and miR-125b-5p). Recent work addresses renin progenitors in bone marrow and vascular effects of renin-angiotensin system inhibition. Representative publications are "Renin Cells, the Kidney, and Hypertension" (Circulation Research, 2021), "Genes that confer the identity of the renin cell" (Kidney International, 2011), and "Inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system causes concentric thickening of intrarenal arteries" (JCI Insight, 2024). Awards include the NHLBI MERIT Award (2011), University of Virginia Distinguished Scientist Award (2015), and NIH P50 grants totaling over $7.5 million (2022 and 2024). His contributions have advanced understanding of pediatric kidney disease, hypertension pathogenesis, and regenerative potential.