By Ron Durham

Dr. Ming-Chang Hu

Dr. Ming-Chang Hu, Associate Professor of Internal Medical and of Pediatrics, has been named as first holder of the Makoto Kuro-o Professorship in Bone and Kidney Research, made possible through generous support from the Charles Y.C. Pak Foundation.

The UT Southwestern Medical Center endowment honors Dr. Makoto Kuro-o, Professor of Pathology and member of the UT Southwestern faculty since 1998.

After earning his medical degree from Nanjing Medical University in China, Dr. Hu began his career as a pediatric nephrologist in his native China. Dr. Hu then earned a Ph.D. from the 7th University of Paris in France, focusing on basic research in the field of renal physiology and kidney development. In 2005, he came to UT Southwestern as a member of the Charles and Jane Pak Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research. His laboratory research now focuses on the relationship between the anti-aging hormone Klotho and acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and its cardiovascular complications and mineral-bone disorders.

“I’m deeply moved and honored to be the first holder of the Makoto Kuro-o Professorship. This honor has special meaning to me because this Professorship was named after Dr. Kuro-o, my former mentor and colleague,” Dr. Hu said. “I have been fortunate to have had great mentors such as Dr. Kuro-o and Dr. Orson Moe who provided invaluable supervision during my early research, and to have had many talented colleagues who made major contributions to research in my laboratory.”

Dr. Kuro-o discovered Klotho in 1997, naming it after the Greek goddess who spun the thread of life. Drs. Kuro-o and Hu were among the UT Southwestern researchers who later participated in a study that concluded low levels of Klotho may serve as an early warning sign of the presence of kidney disease and its deadly cardiovascular complications.

Dr. Orson Moe, current Director of the Pak Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research, Chief of Nephrology Division as well as Professor of Internal Medicine and of Physiology, was the senior author of that study.

The studies conducted by Drs. Hu and Moe also suggested that Klotho replacement therapy may eventually prove to be effective in battling CKD, as well as in preventing and reversing one of its complications, uremic cardiomyopathy, which is fatal for many patients with this disease.

 “This honor is probably one of the most important recognitions in my career,” Dr. Hu said. “Pak Foundation support is critical for my professional development, and will also fund the most promising research projects to develop sensitive biomarker and novel therapeutic strategy for CKD and its cardiovascular and skeletal complications. These efforts may benefit patients suffering from kidney disease and disturbance of mineral disorders.”

While an Assistant Professor, Dr. Hu was awarded the 2012 Young Investigator Award by the Chinese American Society of Nephrology. He is one of only two researchers of Chinese heritage in North America to receive the honor.

This latest gift by the Pak Foundation for the Kuro-o Professorship continues generous support for UT Southwestern that spans more than two decades. The Foundation was founded in 1989 by Dr. Pak, a longtime UT Southwestern faculty member and world-renowned mineral metabolism researcher. Dr. Pak, currently a Professor of Internal Medicine, is former Director of the Charles and Jane Pak Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research, named in his and his wife’s honor. This professorship adds to 11 other endowed professorships Pak has supported, to create the Collegium of CMMCR Endowed Professors dedicated to promoting collaborative research in mineral metabolism at UT Southwestern.

Dr. Moe holds the Charles Pak Distinguished Chair in Mineral Metabolism, and the Donald W. Seldin Professorship in Clinical Investigation.

Dr. Pak holds the Alfred L. and Muriel B. Rabiner Distinguished Academic Chair for Mineral Metabolism Biotechnology Research.