Russell J. Crew, MD
Transplant nephrology is often central to modern liver transplant care, especially when kidney dysfunction, hepatorenal physiology, chronic kidney disease, simultaneous liver-kidney questions, or post-transplant renal complications shape decision-making. Dr. Russell Crew is a Columbia-based nephrologist whose clinical and academic work sits squarely in that intersection.
Crew Overview
Russell J. Crew, MD, is a nephrologist affiliated with Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian, where his listed expertise includes kidney transplant, pancreas transplant, and renal transplant care.[1][2][3]
His professional profile identifies board certification in Internal Medicine and Nephrology, training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and postgraduate training at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.[2]
For patients and families navigating complex transplant pathways, that background signals a clinician deeply engaged in the medical issues that surround advanced organ failure, transplant candidacy, immunologic risk, and allograft preservation.
Why He Matters
On a liver transplant website, nephrology may seem secondary at first glance. In practice, it is often not. Kidney function influences transplant eligibility, perioperative risk, medication tolerance, and long-term outcomes. Many liver candidates face acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, diabetes-related renal impairment, calcineurin inhibitor nephrotoxicity concerns, or the difficult question of whether a patient needs liver transplant alone or simultaneous liver-kidney evaluation.
Clinical Focus
Columbia’s transplant faculty listings place Dr. Crew among physicians involved in kidney and pancreas transplant care, reflecting a role within a high-level transplant ecosystem rather than a purely general nephrology practice.[3][4]
- Evaluation and management of kidney transplant recipients
- Assessment of transplant-related renal dysfunction
- Interpretation of complex post-transplant kidney pathology
- Participation in multidisciplinary transplant follow-up
- Clinical judgment around immunologic and allograft risk
This type of expertise is highly relevant to liver transplant medicine, where renal injury may predate transplantation, emerge during critical illness, or evolve after transplant because of immunosuppression, hemodynamic shifts, infection, diabetes, or intrinsic kidney disease.
Research & Publications
Dr. Crew’s publication record reflects substantive engagement with transplant nephrology and kidney allograft disease. His authorship includes work on ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation, APOL1-related post-transplant pathology, de novo glomerulonephritis in the kidney allograft, and telehealth models for outpatient management of kidney transplant recipients during the COVID-19 era.[5][6][7][8]
- ABO-incompatible transplantation: important when transplant programs try to expand access to organs and reduce barriers created by blood group incompatibility.[5]
- APOL1-related allograft injury and collapsing glomerulopathy: relevant to donor factors, graft pathology, and post-transplant outcomes.[6]
- De novo glomerulonephritis after kidney transplant: relevant to biopsy interpretation, proteinuria, alloimmunity, and graft preservation.[7]
- Telehealth transplant follow-up: relevant to access, continuity, and long-term care coordination in medically complex recipients.[8]
Why This Matters in Liver Transplantation
Even when the primary transplant is hepatic rather than renal, the questions are often shared: how much kidney injury is functional and potentially reversible, how much reflects intrinsic disease, when should nephrology be brought in, and how should clinicians monitor the renal consequences of immunosuppression afterward?
For liver transplant candidates, nephrology input can be particularly important in patients with diabetes, hypertension, prior chronic kidney disease, prolonged ICU courses, hepatorenal syndrome physiology, or uncertainty about simultaneous liver-kidney candidacy. For liver recipients, nephrology remains essential when chronic kidney disease progresses after transplant or when biopsy-level interpretation becomes necessary.
Patient Perspective
Patients often think of transplant through a single-organ lens. Real transplant care is broader. A liver transplant candidate may also need cardiology, nephrology, psychiatry, nutrition, infectious disease, and social work input. Understanding physicians like Dr. Crew helps patients appreciate why transplant medicine is a team enterprise and why kidney issues must be taken seriously before and after liver transplantation.
References
- ColumbiaDoctors. Russell J Crew, MD.
- NewYork-Presbyterian. Russell J Crew, MD – Find a Doctor.
- Columbia Nephrology. Transplant Faculty.
- Columbia University Irving Medical Center Development. Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Team.
- Crew RJ, Ratner LE. ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation: current practice and the decade ahead.
- Chang JH, Husain SA, Santoriello D, et al. Donor's APOL1 Risk Genotype and “Second Hits” Associated With De Novo Collapsing Glomerulopathy in Deceased Donor Kidney Transplant Recipients.
- Khairallah P, Kamal J, Crew RJ, et al. The Association Between Post-Kidney Transplant De Novo Glomerulonephritis and Alloimmunity.
- Chang JH, Diop M, Burgos YL, et al. Telehealth in outpatient management of kidney transplant recipients during COVID-19 pandemic in New York.
Disclaimer
This page is for educational purposes only and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Physician roles, titles, affiliations, publications, and clinical interests may change over time. Patients should confirm current credentials, appointment availability, and care recommendations directly with the treating institution and licensed clinicians.