Katherine R. Tuttle, MD, FASN, FACP, FNKF, is Executive Director for Research at Providence Inland Northwest Health, Regional Principal Investigator of the Institute of Translational Health Sciences and Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. She oversees a regional network of 17 clinical research centers and chairs the research Regional Executive Council for the University of Washington. Dr. Tuttle earned her medical degree and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. She was a fellow in Metabolism and Endocrinology at Washington University in St. Louis. Her Nephrology fellowship training was performed at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Dr. Tuttle’s major research interests are in diabetes and chronic kidney disease. As a clinical and translational scientist, she has published over 350 original peer-reviewed articles. Early in her career, her first independently awarded research grant produced a landmark study elucidating physiological principles underlying glomerular hyperfiltration in humans with diabetes. This foundational work led to a number of subsequent physiological and pre-clinical studies that laid a foundation for new therapeutic targets in clinical trials. She has seen that work to the finish line over more than three decades to help deliver SGLT2 inhibition as the most impactful therapy to-date to reduce risks of kidney failure, cardiovascular events, and death in persons with and without diabetes. Dr. Tuttle has also been a leading investigator across the translational arc for other breakthrough therapies, including incretins and anti-inflammatory agents. She led the original clinical trial that elevated glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists to potential therapeutics for chronic kidney disease, which is being tested in ongoing trials. She leads the Center for Kidney Disease Research, Education and Hope (CURE-CKD) Registry of real-world data for chronic kidney disease, diabetes, prediabetes, and hypertension from nearly 4 million health system patients. In sum, her collective work has shaped the “pillars of therapy“ approach to chronic kidney disease in a most fundamental manner across the spectrum of scientific discovery, clinical trials, and population level implementation.

Dr. Tuttle is Chair of the Diabetic Kidney Disease Collaborative for the American Society of Nephrology. She served on the inaugural Board of Directors for the Kidney Health Initiative and has chaired numerous working groups and committees for organizations including the National Institutes of Health, the American Society of Nephrology, the International Society of Nephrology, Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes, the National Kidney Foundation, and the American Diabetes Association. Dr. Tuttle has received many honors and awards including the John P. Peters Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Nephrology, the Medal of Excellence from the American Association of Kidney Patients, the Garabed Eknoyan Award from the National Kidney Foundation, the YWCA Woman of Achievement Award in Science, and two University of Washington Outstanding Clinical Faculty Awards.