FranzSchaefer Heidelberg University HospitalGermany

Dr. Franz Schaefer is Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of Pediatric Nephrology at Heidelberg University Hospital. He received his M.D. in 1986 at Würzburg University Medical School. He performed research scholarships at Institute of Child Health, London, University of Virginia and Stanford University. He served on numerous medical society councils and is the current president of the International Pediatric Nephrology Association (IPNA). Dr Schaefer has a special interest in epidemiological research. He founded and coordinated several international registries for rare diseases and conditions, such as the International Pediatric Dialysis Network, the European Network for Chronic Kidney Disease Research (ESCAPE), the PodoNet network and registry for steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome, the ARegPKD and ARegPKD registries for polycystic kidney diseases, and the IPNA global registry for pediatric kidney replacement therapy. He founded and coordinates the European Rare Kidney Disease Reference Network (ERKNet), for which he created the highly successful European Registry for Rare Kidney Diseases (ERKReg). Dr. Schaefer’s publication record encompasses 750 scientific articles and book chapters; his H-Index is 96. Dr. Schaefer is Co-editor of the international textbooks ‘Pediatric Kidney Disease’ and ‘Pediatric Dialysis’.