Dr. Samir El-Dahr

Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Jane B. Aron Professor, Mentoring Faculty, Biochemisty & Molecular Biology

New Orleans LA UNITED STATES
Tulane School of Medicine

seldahr@tulane.edu504-988-6692

Dr. El-Dahr is an active clinician with an interest in pediatric hypertension and transplantation.

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Biography

Dr. Samir El-Dahr received his medical degree at Aleppo University School of Medicine in 1982. He completed his residency in Pediatrics at the Medical Center of Delaware in 1986, followed by a fellowship in Pediatric Nephrology at the University of Virginia. Dr. El-Dahr joined the Section of Pediatric Nephrology at Tulane in 1990 and is currently the Jane B. Aron Professor of Pediatrics and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Tulane University School of Medicine, and Section Chief of Pediatric Nephrology. Dr. El-Dahr is actively involved in laboratory research and has served on several study sections at the National Institute of Health, where he currently holds funding related to mechanisms of kidney development. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Departament Chairs. Dr. El-Dahr is an active clinician with an interest in pediatric hypertension and transplantation.

Areas of Expertise

Kidney Transplantation

Chronic Kidney Disease

Nephrotic Syndrome

Pediatric Hypertension

Hematuria

Dialysis

Education

Aleppo University, School of Medicine

M.D.

1992

University of Virginia

Fellowship

Pediatric Nephrology

1990

Medical Center of Delaware

Residency

Pediatrics

1986

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Media Appearances

Willis-Knighton joins partnership to advance pediatric health care in NWLA

Minden Press-Herald

2019-11-29

“Willis-Knighton-affiliated pediatric providers will now be able to participate in the robust academic activities available through Tulane and Children’s Hospital New Orleans,” says Samir El-Dahr, MD, chair of pediatrics at Tulane University School of Medicine.

Articles

Epigenetic regulation of renal development

Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology

Samir S El-Dahr, Zubaida Saifudeen

2019

Developmental changes in cell fate are tightly regulated by cell-type specific transcription factors. Chromatin reorganization during organismal development ensures dynamic access of developmental regulators to their cognate DNA sequences. Thus, understanding the epigenomic states of promoters and enhancers is of key importance. Recent years have witnessed significant advances in our knowledge of the transcriptional mechanisms of kidney development.

Defining the dynamic chromatin landscape of mouse nephron progenitors

Biology Open

Sylvia Hilliard, Renfang Song, Hongbing Liu, Chao-hui Chen, Yuwen Li, Melody Baddoo, Erik Flemington, Alanna Wanek, Jay Kolls, Zubaida Saifudeen, Samir S El-Dahr

2019

Six2+ cap mesenchyme cells, also called nephron progenitor cells (NPC), are precursors of all epithelial cell types of the nephron, the filtering unit of the kidney. Current evidence indicates that perinatal ‘old’ NPC have a greater tendency to exit the progenitor niche and differentiate into nascent nephrons than their embryonic ‘young’ counterpart. Understanding the underpinnings of NPC development may offer insights to rejuvenate old NPC and expand the progenitor pool.

Renal Medullary Histone Deacetylase Dependent Regulation of Fluid-Electrolyte Homeostasis During High Salt Feeding

The FASEB Journal

Kelly A Hyndman, Joshua S Speed, Samir El-Dahr, Eric Olson, David M Pollock, Jennifer S Pollock

2019

Histone deacetylase enzymes (HDACs) regulate gene transcription through epigenetic modification of chromatin structure. HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) are being examined as anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic therapies in cardiovascular disease. However, adverse events of HDACi use include hyponatremia, hypokalemia, and hypertension suggesting that HDACs are involved in regulation of fluid-electrolyte balance. Thus, we sought to define the renal physiology and pathophysiology role of HDACs to understand mechanisms of these potentially fatal side effects.