Photo caption: The UW Health 50 Years of Hope Gala in July, 2016 provided an opportunity for past and present Nephrology members to gather in celebration of a historic milestone for the program. From left to right: Dr. Frank Gutmann, Dr. Richard Rieselbach, Nina Rieselbach, and Dr. Arjang (Aji) Djamali. Photo credit: John Maniaci / UW Health

A philanthropic gift from former nephrology fellow Frank Gutmann, MD, MPH and his wife Mary Gutmann, PhD, has established an annual award to further the academic development of early-career nephrologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Drs. Frank and Mary Gutmann provided the lead gift in honor of Frank’s mentor Richard (Dick) Rieselbach, MD and his wife Nina Rieselbach on the occasion of the Rieselbachs’ 60th wedding anniversary. Gifts totaling $106,000 have been contributed since the fund was established in 2016.

"My spouse Mary and I felt a fund honoring Nina and Dick Rieselbach was a wonderful way of showing our gratitude to them for the enormous impact they had on our and so many others' professional and personal lives as part of the University of Wisconsin Medical School,” said Frank.

The first recipient of the Richard and Nina Rieselbach Nephrology Fellowship Award is Emily Joachim, MD (pictured at left). Dr. Joachim, who began the fellowship program this fall after serving as chief resident during the 2016-17 academic year, has been accepted to a competitive national workshop for future clinician-educators offered by the MGH Institute of Health Professions. After attending this course, she plans to create a series of online lectures, articles, workshops and online modules to build upon skills and knowledge so fellows will be able to independently and confidently address many issues seen in caring for dialysis patients. Financial support provided by the fellowship award will fund these activities.

The award selection committee also noted two additional proposals by current nephrology fellows who will receive extra elective time to complete their initiatives. Anna Lee-Malay, MD is focusing on improved management of end-stage renal disease in a rural setting, and Sayee Alagusundaramoorthy, MBBS is focusing on use of point-of-care ultrasound to guide volume status in patients requiring renal replacement therapy.

Dr. Frank Gutmann conducted his internal medicine residency at UW-Madison (’66) as well as his nephrology fellowship training (’68). Dr. Mary Gutmann earned her master’s degree (’66) and PhD (’68) at UW-Madison, both in psychology. The Gutmanns currently live in Silverthorne, Colorado.

Dr. Rieselbach was a faculty member at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health for 46 years and served as division head of Nephrology. In addition to establishing the kidney transplant program at UW when he was recruited to the university by former Department of Medicine chair Robert Schilling, MD, Dr. Rieselbach was the founding associate dean of the UW-Milwaukee Academic Campus and served as chair of its Department of Medicine.

Today, the Milwaukee Clinical Campus in conjunction with Aurora Health Care remains an key partner of UW School of Medicine and Public Health, both for the Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TRIUMPH) program for MD students and (through association with Aurora BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay) the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM).

Over his career, Dr. Rieselbach had a tremendous impact on clinical education and transplant medicine, and has been a tireless advocate for patient-centered public health policies at the national level. He and Nina reside in Madison, Wisconsin.

To make a donation to this fund, contact Pete Schmeling, senior director of development, at Pete.Schmeling@supportuw.org or 608.709.9388 or online.

Resources:

• "Nephrology Fellow Dr. Emily Joachim Accepted into National Clinician-Educator Program," Department of Medicine, September 28, 2017