Professional Interests

Dr. Michal Melamed is a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology & Population Health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She has been the Nephrology Fellowship Program Director since 2012. After completing her undergraduate degree in Dramatic Literature at New York University summa cum laude, she trained at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for medical school, Internal Medicine residency, and Nephrology fellowship. Additionally, she completed a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health during her fellowship.

She has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2007 and her research interests include the epidemiology of and ethnic and racial disparities in chronic kidney disease and its complications, the epidemiology and health consequences of Vitamin D deficiency and metabolic acidosis. Dr. Melamed is the Principal Investigator of several NIH-funded research studies.  She has published over 90 original publications in the medical literature and has mentored countless young investigators from high school students to junior faculty members. In 2019, she won the Distinguished Mentor Award from the American Society of Nephrology.

Selected Publications

Selected Publications:
 
Melamed ML, Eustace JA, Plantinga L, Jaar BG, Fink NE, Klag MJ, Coresh J, Powe NR. Changes in Serum Calcium, Phosphate and PTH and the Risk of Death in Incident Dialysis Patients: A Longitudinal Study. Kidney Int 2006 Jul;70(2):351-7.
 
Gupta R, Plantinga LC, Fink NE, Melamed ML, Coresh J, Fox CS, Levin NW, Powe NR. Statin use and hospitalization for sepsis in patients with chronic kidney disease. JAMA 2007 Apr 4;297(13):1455-64.
 
Hailpern SM, Melamed ML, Cohen HW, Hostetter T.  Moderate Chronic Kidney Disease and Cognitive Function in Adults 20-59 Years of Age (NHANES III). J Am Soc Nephrol 2007 Jul;18(7):2205-13.
 
Melamed ML, Eustace JA, Plantinga LC, Jaar BG, Fink NE, Parekh RS, Coresh J, Yang Z, Cantor T, Powe NR. Third-Generation Parathyroid Hormone Assays and All-Cause Mortality in Incident Dialysis Patients: The CHOICE Study. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2008 May; 23(5):1650-8.

Melamed ML*, Muntner P*, Michos ED, Uribarri J, Weber C, Sharma J, Raggi P. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D Levels and the Prevalence of Peripheral Arterial Disease: Results from NHANES 2001-2004. Atheroscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2008 Jun;28(6)1179-85.
 
Melamed ML*, Michos ED*, Post W, Astor B. 25-Hydroxyl Vitamin D Levels and the Risk of Mortality in the General Population. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Aug 11;168(15):1629-37.
 
Shah S, Abramowitz M, Hostetter TH, Melamed ML. Serum Bicarbonate Levels and the Progression of Kidney Disease: A Cohort Study. Am J Kidney Dis. 2009 Aug;54(2):270-7.
 
Kumar J, Muntner P, Kaskel FJ, Hailpern SM, Melamed ML. Prevalence and Associations of 25- Hydroxyvitamin D Deficiency in Children and Adolescents in the United States: Results from NHANES 2001-2004. Pediatrics. Aug 3 2009. Electronic pages.
 
Plantinga LC, Fink NE, Coresh J, Sozio SM, Parekh RS, Melamed ML, Powe NR, Jaar BG. Peripheral vascular disease-related procedures in dialysis patients: predictors and prognosis. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2009 Oct;4 (10):1637-45.
 
Tonelli M, Curhan G, Pfeffer M, Sacks F, Thadhani R, Melamed ML, Wiebe N, Muntner P. Relation Between Alkaline Phosphatase, Serum Phosphate, and All-Cause or Cardiovascular Mortality. Circulation. 2009 Oct. 19 Epub. 2009 Nov 3;120(18):1784-92.
 
Melamed ML, Astor B, Michos ED, Hostetter TH, Powe NR, Muntner P. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D levels, Race and the Progression of Kidney Disease. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2009 Dec.;20(12) 2631-9.
 
Abramowitz M, Muntner P, Coco M, Southern W, Lotwin I, Hostetter TH, Melamed ML. Serum alkaline phosphatase and phosphate and risk of mortality and hospitalization. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2010 Apr 8 Epub. 2010 Jun;5(6):1064-71.
 
Murea M, Park JK, Sharma S, Kato H, Gruenwald A, Niranjan T, Si H, Thomas DB, Pullman JM, Melamed ML, Susztak K. Expression of Notch pathway proteins correlates with albuminuria, glomerulosclerosis, and renal function. Kidney Int. 2010 June 9; 78(5):514-22.
 
Melamed ML, Blackwell T, Neugarten J, Arnsten J, Ensrud K, Ishani A, Cummings S, Silbiger S. Raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, is renoprotective: a post-hoc analysis. Kidney Int. 2011 Jan;79(2):241-9
 
O’ Seaghdha CM, Hwang S-J, Muntner P, Melamed ML*, Fox CS*. Serum phosphorus predicts incident Chronic Kidney Disease and End-Stage Renal Disease. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2011 Sep;26(9):2885-90. Epub 2011 Feb 3.
 
Abramowitz MK, Hostetter TH, Melamed ML. Association of Serum Bicarbonate Levels with Gait Speed and Quadriceps Strength in Older Adults. Am J Kidney Dis 2011 Feb 25.
 
Sharief S, Jariwala S, Kumar J, Muntner P, Melamed ML. Vitamin D levels and food and environmental allergies in the United States: Results from NHANES 2005-6. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2011 May;127(5):1195-202. Epub 2011 Feb 16. PMID: 21329969
 
Skversky AL, Kumar J, Abramowitz MK, Kaskel FJ, Melamed ML. Association of Glucocorticoid Use and Low 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES): 2001-2006. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Sept 28. (Epub)
 
Michos ED, Reis JP, Post WS, Lutsey PL, Gottesman RF, Mosley TH, Sharrett AR, Melamed ML. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D deficiency is associated with fatal stroke among whites but not blacks: The NHANES III linked mortality files. Nutrition 2012 Apr; 28(4)367-71.
 
Abramowitz MK, Hostetter TH, Melamed ML. Lower serum bicarbonate and a higher anion gap are associated with lower cardiorespiratory fitness in young adults. Kidney International. 2012 May;81(10):103342. Epub 2012 Feb 1. PMCID: PMC3340439
 
Abramowitz MK, Hostetter TH, Melamed ML. The serum anion gap is altered in early kidney disease and associates with mortality. Kidney International. 2012 Sep;82 (6):701-9.
 
Abramowitz MK, Melamed ML, Bauer C, Raff AC, Hostetter TH. Effects of Oral Sodium Bicarbonate in Patients with CKD. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 2013 Feb 7^th Epub ahead of print. 2013 May; 8(5)714-20.

Melamed ML, Plantinga L, Shafi T, Parekh R, Meyer TW, Hostetter TH, Coresh J, Powe NR. Retained organic solutes, patient characteristics and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in hemodialysis: results from the retained organic solutes and clinical outcomes (ROSCO) investigators. BMC Nephrol 2013 June 27;14(1)134.
 
Atkinson MA, Melamed ML, Kumar J, Roy CN, Miller ER 3^rd, Furth SL, Fadrowski JJ. Vitamin D, Race, and Risk for Anemia in Children.  J Pediatrics. 2013 Oct 8^th Epub. 164(1):153-158.
 
Milman S, Schulder-Katz M, Deluty J, Zimmerman ME, Crandall JP, Barzilai N, Melamed ML*, Atzmon G*.  Individuals with Exceptional Longevity Manifest a Delayed Association Between Vitamin D Insufficiency and Cognitive Impairment. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014 Jan Epub.
 
Akchurin OM, Melamed ML, Hashim BL, Kaskel FJ, Del Rio M. Medication adherence in the transition of adolescent kidney transplant recipients to the adult care. Pediatric Transplantation. 2014 May 12 Epub. 18(5):538-48.
 
Chen W, Melamed ML, Abramowitz MK. Serum bicarbonate and Bone Mineral Density in US Adults. Am J Kidney Dis. 2014 Aug 26 Epub. 2015 Feb;65(2):240-8. 
 
Sarathy H, Pramanik V, Kahn J, Abramowitz MK, Meier K, Kishore P, Melamed ML. The Effects of Short-term Vitamin D Supplementation on Glucose Metabolism in Dialysis Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.  Int Urol Nephrol. 2015 Mar;47(3):537-49. 
 
Barry EL, Mott LA, Melamed ML, Rees JR, Ivanova A, Sandler RS, Ahnen DJ, Bresalier RS, Summers RW, Bostick RM, Baron JA. Calcium supplementation increases blood creatinine concentration in a randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2014. Oct 15;9(10):e108094.
 
Scialla JJ, Parekh RS, Eustace JA, Astor BC, Plantinga L, Jaar BG, Shafi T, Coresh J, Powe NR, Melamed ML. Race, Mineral Homeostasis and Mortality in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease on Dialysis. Am J Nephrol. 2015;42(1):25-34.
 
Calp-Inal S, Ajaimy M, Melamed ML, Savchik C, Masiakos P, Colovai A, Akalin E. The prevalence and clinical significance of C1q-binding donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies early and late after kidney transplantation.  Kidney Int 2015 Nov 4 (Epub ahead of print)
 
Kumar J, McDermott K, Abraham AG, Friedman LA, Johnson VL, Kaskel FJ, Furth SL, Warady BA, Portale AA, Melamed ML. Prevalence and correlates of 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency in the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children (CKID) cohort. Pediatr Nephrol. 2016 Jan; 31(1):121-9.

Sarathy H, Henriquez G, Abramowitz MK, Kramer H, Rosas SE, Johns T, Kumar J, Skversky A, Kaskel F, Melamed ML. Abdominal Obesity, Race and Chronic Kidney Disease in Young Adults: Results from NHANES 1999-2010. Plos One. 2016 May 25;11(5):e0153588.

Chen W, Melamed ML, Hostetter TH, Bauer C, Raff AC, Almudevar AL, Lalonde A, Messing S, Abramowitz MK. Effect of oral sodium bicarbonate on fibroblast growth factor-23 in patients with chronic kidney disease: a pilot study. BMC Nephrol. 2016;17(1):114.

Shafi T, Powe NR, Meyer TW, Hwang S, Hai X, Melamed ML, Banerjee T, Coresh J, Hostetter TH. Trimethylamine N-Oxide and Cardiovascular Events in Hemodialysis Patients. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2017 Jan;28(1):321-31.

Goel N, Kwon C, Zachariah TP, Broker M, Folkert VW, Bauer C, Melamed ML. Vascular access placement in patients with chronic kidney disease stages 4 and 5 attending an inner city nephrology clinic: a cohort study and survey of providers.  BMC Nephrol. 2017; 18(1):28.

Buttar RS, Batra J, Kreimerman J, Aleta M, Melamed ML. Rhabdomyolysis and AKI with Atorvastatin and Sitagliptin Use in the Setting of Low 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels. J Gen Intern Med. 2017 Oct;32(10):1156-1159.

Golestaneh L Bellin E, Southern W, Melamed ML. Discharge service as a determinant of 30-day readmission in a cohort of maintenance hemodialysis patients: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Nephrol. 2017 Dec 4;18(1):352.

Melamed ML, Chonchol M, Gutierrez OM, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Kendrick J, Norris K, Scialla JJ, Thadhani R. The Role of Vitamin D in CKD Stages 3 to 4: Report of a Scientific Workshop Sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation. Am J Kidney Dis. 2018; 72(6)834-845.

Astor BC, Djamali A, Mandelbrot DA, Parajuli S, Melamed ML. The Association of 25-hydroxyvitamin D Levels with Late Cytomegalovirus Infection in Kidney Transplant Recipients: the Wisconsin Allograft Recipient Database (WisARD). Transplantation 2019 Aug;103(8):1683-1688

Chen W, Eisenberg R, Mowrey WB, Wylie-Rosett J, Abramowitz MK, Bushinsky DA, Melamed ML.  Association between dietary zinc intake and abdominal aortic calcification in US adults. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2019 Jul 11.

Sochol KM, Johns TS, Buttar RS, Randhawa L, Sanchez E, Gal M, Lestrade K, Merzkani M, Abramowitz MK, Mossavar-Rahmani Y, Melamed ML. The Effects of Dairy Intake on Insulin Resistance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. Nutrients 2019; 11(9):2237.

Melamed ML, Horwitz EJ, Dobre MA, Abramowitz MK, Zhang L, Lo Y, Mitch WE, Hostetter TH. The Effects of Sodium Bicarbonate in Chronic Kidney Disease Stages 3 and 4: A Randomized, Placebo-Control, Multi-Center Clinical Trial. American Journal of Kidney Diseases. 2020.