Barbara Murphy, MD, MB, BAO, BCh, FRCPI
The Division of Nephrology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has been named in honor of Barbara Murphy, MD, MB, BAO, BCh, FRCPI, a world-renowned and award-winning nephrologist and researcher who became the first female chair of a Department of Medicine at an academic medical center in New York City. Dr. Murphy died June 30, 2021, at age 56.
The official announcement of the establishing of the Dr. Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology was made during a ceremony Monday, October 24, at the Division, located in the Annenberg Building, 23rd Floor, during which Mount Sinai leaders celebrated her outstanding contributions to Mount Sinai and to the Division.
Those making remarks included Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai Health System; Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System; Judith A. Aberg, MD, Professor of Medicine, System Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases; and Samira Farouk, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology.
David C. Thomas, MD, MHPE, Professor of Medicine, System Vice Chair for Education, Department of Medicine, served as moderator of the event. Among those attending was Peter Fogarty, Dr. Murphy’s husband.
Kenneth L. Davis, MD
In a statement, Monica Kraft, MD, Murray M. Rosenberg Professor of Medicine and System Chair of the Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai Health System and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, called Dr. Murphy “a great leader, a groundbreaking scientist, and wonderful human being.”
“It is extraordinary for us to be able to celebrate her in this way, and a privilege to honor her legacy for all the incredible contributions she made to the field of nephrology, medical science, and importantly to Mount Sinai,” Dr. Kraft added. “To dedicate the Division of Nephrology in her honor is a reminder of the impact that certain individuals have on the lives of our patients, colleagues, and fellow scientists. And this division embodies the very essence of Dr. Murphy’s vision for a healthier tomorrow through monumental kidney research that will continue to save so many lives.”
Dr. Thomas said, “There are so many amazing stories we could share with you about Dr. Murphy. But what they all have in common is that she was a staunch supporter of research and education, and nothing made her happier than to see her team thrive through the discovery of new therapies and treatments. Particularly, when she knew that a life was or could be saved because of her team’s work.”
Dr. Murphy was motivated to pursue kidney research when she was in medical school in Ireland. She was caring for a patient who had developed end-stage kidney disease who went on to receive a kidney transplant. This experience led Dr. Murphy to come to the United States, where she pursued kidney and transplantation research and completed her fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital before being recruited to be the Director of Transplant Nephrology at Mount Sinai in 1997.
She was named Division Chief six years later, becoming one of the youngest division Chiefs in the United States, as well as one of the few women at the time to hold the title. Subsequently, she was appointed the Dean for Clinical Integration and Population Health, and went on to become Chair of Medicine in 2012.
Dr. Murphy was at the forefront of groundbreaking kidney research, always ensuring that any advances made in the field were quickly and safely applied to the treatment of her patients.
Under her leadership in the Division of Nephrology, she built one of the most comprehensive and robust kidney transplant programs in the country. When she became Chair of Medicine, the Department experienced rapid expansion, particularly during the merger to become one large health system, and she ensured that clinical and training programs were integrated at every hospital site to improve patient outcomes.
As a researcher, Dr. Murphy focused on genetics and genomics in transplantation. Her discoveries have led to renal transplantation in HIV-positive patients becoming standard of care. She conducted groundbreaking research using high-throughput genomic technologies to understand the immune mechanisms that lead to graft injury and loss. She aimed to identify gene expression profiles or genetic variants that would predict patients’ risk for disease. Dr. Murphy’s laboratory took a systems biology approach to identifying genetic drivers of fibrosis; this had important implications for kidney transplantation, but she hoped it would have an enormous impact on all organ transplantations in the future.
Dennis S. Charney, MD, left, and Peter Fogarty, husband of Barbara Murphy, MD
Dr. Murphy was also an innovator and inventor. In addition to her roles within the Health System, in 2018 she became Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for RenalytixAI, an artificial intelligence-enabled in vitro diagnostics company that collaborates with Mount Sinai in seeking to improve chronic kidney disease detection, management, and treatment. And, in 2020, she became a co-founder and board member of Verici Dx, a pioneering company focused on advanced clinical diagnostics in organ transplant.
Dr. Murphy was President-Elect of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) at the time of her passing, and was named in June 2021 as the recipient of the ASN’s first Lifetime Achievement Award. She was named Nephrologist of the Year in 2011 by the American Kidney Fund; among The Annual Irish America Healthcare and Life Science 50 in 2016; and as one of the Crain’s New York “Notable Women in Health Care” in 2018. She received numerous honorary doctoral degrees from universities and medical schools.
In May 2018, Dr. Murphy described her approach to her work when she was a featured speaker at the graduation ceremony of her alma mater, the School of Medicine of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), according to an article in Mount Sinai Today.
Her advice was straightforward. “Do not be afraid to stand up and take risks for the good of your patients,” Dr. Murphy told the graduates. “You cannot have an impact if you live in the shadows afraid to fail or afraid of upsetting others. Success is not about abstracts, papers, awards, or titles. It is about having a positive impact on the lives of others, about meaningful change.”
The morning after the dedication ceremony at Mount Sinai, the First Annual Dr. Barbara T. Murphy Memorial Lecture was held over Zoom with Dr. Susan Quaggin, MD, Chief of Nephrology at Northwestern University.