Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS
| amarals@email.chop.edu | |
Faculty Information | |
| CCEB Appointment | Senior Scholar, Epidemiology |
| Primary Faculty Appointment | Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at CHOP, University of Pennsylvania Perelman SOM |
Research Statement
Dr. Amaral is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Nephrology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and a Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Amaral’s research is focused in kidney transplantation with particular interests in 1) reducing racial disparities in access to transplant for children and adults and 2) improving the transition of adolescents and young adults from the pediatric to adult health care settings, including finding ways to overcome barriers to adolescent medication nonadherence.
A number of Dr. Amaral’s studies have examined the impact of neighborhood poverty and insurance status on racial differences in access to the transplant waiting list and transplant receipt. Dr. Amaral serves on the Pediatric Committee of the United Network for Organ Sharing, the organization that manages the U.S. organ transplant system. Her research and advocacy efforts are targeted at ensuring optimal and equitable health care for children with end-stage kidney disease.
Dr. Amaral also works to examine how best to measure medication adherence and transition readiness among adolescent transplant recipients. She is currently funded with an NIH K23 Career Development Award to conduct a randomized clinical trial of peer mentoring support as a mechanism to improve health-related quality of life and medication adherence among adolescent and young adult liver and kidney transplant recipients.
Selected Publications
Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS, Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH, Nancy Kutner, PhD, William McClellan, MD, MPH. Racial Disparities in Pediatric Kidney Transplant Access since Share 35. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2012 Apr 26. [Epub ahead of print].
Nancy Kutner, PhD, Kirsten Johansen, MD, Rebecca Zhang, MS, Yijian Huang, PhD, Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS. Perspectives on the New Kidney Disease Education Benefit: Early Awareness, Race and Kidney Transplant Access in a USRDS Study. Am J Transplant. 2012 Jan 6. [Epub ahead of print].
Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH, Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS, Mitch Klein, PhD, Nancy Kutner, PhD, Jennie Perryman, RN, PhD, Julie Gazmararian, PhD, MPH, William McClellan, MD, MPH. Racial Disparities in Pediatric Access to Kidney Transplantation: Does Socioeconomic Status Play a Role? Am J Transplant. 2012 Jan 6. [Epub ahead of print].
Jordan Gilleland, PhD, Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS, Laura Mee, PhD, Ronald Blount, PhD. Getting Ready to Leave: Transition Readiness in Adolescent Kidney Transplant Recipients. Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 2012 Jan-Feb;37(1):85-96. Epub 2011 Aug 29.
Rachel Patzer, MPH, Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS, Haimanot Wasse, MD, MPH, Nataliya Volkova, PhD, David Kleinbaum, PhD, William McClellan, MD, MPH. Neighborhood Poverty and Racial Disparities in Kidney Transplant Waitlisting. J Am Soc Nephrol 2009 Jun; 20 (6): 1333-1340.
