Farrukh M. Koraishy, MD, PhD, FASN
Professor of Medicine
Division of Nephrology and Hypertension
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
Research Overview
Dr. Koraishy is a clinician-investigator whose research focuses on acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and the kidney–brain and kidney–mental health axes. His program examines how kidney disease interacts with cognitive impairment, aging, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, vascular and cardiometabolic risk, and functional outcomes.
His research uses prospective clinical cohorts, national electronic health record data, causal-inference methods, target-trial emulation, natural language processing, machine learning, and biomarker and proteomic approaches. He leads and contributes to multidisciplinary collaborations involving the World Trade Center Health Program, the National Clinical Cohort Collaborative, RECOVER, TriNetX, biomedical informatics, applied mathematics and statistics, geriatrics, neurology, psychiatry, critical care, and public health.
His work is increasingly focused on translating observational findings into risk-stratified clinical programs and pragmatic interventions for people with kidney disease.
Major Research Areas
Kidney–Brain Axis and Cognitive Aging
Dr. Koraishy’s research examines the bidirectional relationship between kidney disease and cognitive impairment. Current studies evaluate:
· CKD as a risk factor for early cognitive impairment and cognitive decline
· Cognitive impairment as a predictor of kidney-function decline and incident CKD
· Kidney, vascular, inflammatory, and proteomic pathways contributing to cognitive vulnerability
· The effect of kidney-protective therapies on cognitive outcomes
· Identification of high-risk kidney phenotypes among older and middle-aged adults
This program includes analyses of the Stony Brook World Trade Center responder cohort, local and national electronic health records, and prospective studies of older adults with CKD.
Mental Health and Kidney Disease
Dr. Koraishy’s group was among the first to systematically investigate PTSD as a potential risk factor for kidney disease. This research now encompasses:
· PTSD and incident or progressive CKD
· Depression and kidney outcomes
· Longitudinal mental-health symptom trajectories and kidney-function decline
· Inflammatory and cardiometabolic pathways linking mental health with CKD
· PTSD recognition, treatment, and clinical outcomes among patients receiving hemodialysis
· Mental-health burden as a determinant of treatment adherence and intervention effectiveness
These studies use data from WTC responders, national VA and TriNetX cohorts, the Heart and Soul Study, local clinical data, and dialysis populations.
Geriatric Nephrology and SENIOR-CKD
Dr. Koraishy is developing SENIOR-CKD, a nephrology-led and geriatrics-integrated clinical research platform for adults aged 65 years and older with non-dialysis CKD.
The program evaluates whether cognitive impairment, frailty, functional limitation, falls, mobility, mood, treatment complexity, and social vulnerability identify patients at increased risk for:
· Hospitalization
· Acute kidney injury
· CKD progression
· Dialysis initiation
· Loss of independence
· Mortality
The long-term goal is to develop and test risk-stratified kidney–geriatric care models that preserve kidney health, function, independence, and quality of life.
AKI, Post-AKI Recovery, and Long COVID
Dr. Koraishy has led and contributed to local and national research examining:
· Risk factors and outcomes associated with AKI
· Long-term kidney outcomes following hospitalization
· Post-AKI kidney-function trajectories
· CKD and ESKD following COVID-19
· The association of Long COVID with new or progressive CKD
· Prediction of kidney-function decline following hospitalization
· Clinical models for post-AKI follow-up and preventive care
This work has used Stony Brook clinical data and the national N3C and RECOVER electronic health record resources.
Clinical Informatics, Natural Language Processing, and Machine Learning
Dr. Koraishy collaborates with biomedical informatics, computer science, and applied mathematics investigators to develop and evaluate data-driven approaches to kidney disease.
Current and completed projects include:
· Natural language processing of kidney ultrasound reports
· NLP-based prediction and identification of AKI and CKD
· Machine-learning prediction of kidney-function decline
· Analysis of national EHR and real-world data
· Phenotype development and validation for kidney and cognitive outcomes
· Causal-inference and target-trial emulation methods for comparative effectiveness research
Comparative Effectiveness and Clinical Trials
Dr. Koraishy is expanding his research program from observational studies toward prospective intervention studies and clinical trials.
Current areas include:
· A national target-trial emulation comparing SGLT2 inhibitor with DPP-4 inhibitor initiation and incident cognitive impairment in older adults with type 2 diabetes
· Pragmatic evaluation of semaglutide, vascular dysfunction, kidney–cardiometabolic risk, and cognitive outcomes
· Intervention development for older ICU survivors with AKI and cognitive vulnerability
· Integration of implementation, adherence, safety, and treatment-persistence outcomes into kidney trials
· Risk-stratified interventions for older adults with CKD
Current Funded Research Support
PTSD and Outcomes in Hemodialysis
Identification of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Its Impact on Outcomes in Hemodialysis Patients
· Role: Principal Investigator
· Sponsor: Dialysis Clinic, Inc.
· Award: RF#C-421
· Project period: 2025–present
This study evaluates the prevalence, recognition, and clinical consequences of PTSD among patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis.
Trauma and Cognitive Aging in WTC Responders
A Life Course Approach to Integrating Trauma and Cognitive Aging: A Cohort of 9/11 Responders
· Role: Co-Investigator
· Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
· Award: 5R01AG049953-10
· Project period: 2024–present
This longitudinal program examines trauma, mental health, aging, and cognitive outcomes in WTC responders.
NLP-Based AKI Prediction
Use of Natural Language Processing to Predict Acute Kidney Injury in the Intensive Care Unit
· Role: Principal Investigator
· Sponsor: Stony Brook University Department of Medicine Seed Grant
· Project period: 2023–present
This project evaluates whether information extracted from clinical documentation can improve early identification and prediction of AKI.
Dr. Koraishy’s research has received support from NIH, CDC/NIOSH, Dialysis Clinic, Inc., SUNY, the Stony Brook Department of Medicine, the VA, and the American Society of Nephrology.
Recently Completed Major Support
PTSD and CKD in WTC Responders
Investigating the Association of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder With Chronic Kidney Disease in World Trade Center Responders
· Role: Principal Investigator
· Sponsor: CDC/NIOSH
· Award: R21OH012237-01
· Project period: 2021–2023
This project evaluated PTSD as a novel risk factor for kidney-function decline and CKD among WTC responders.
National Clinical Cohort Collaborative
Collaborative Analytics for EHR and Other Real-World Data in N3C
Role: Co-Investigator and former Co-Lead, N3C Kidney Disease Clinical Domain
· Sponsor: NIH/NCATS
· Award: OT2HL161847
· Project period: 2022–2024
This work supported national EHR studies of AKI, CKD, COVID-19, Long COVID, and related outcomes.
Emerging Research Programs and Grant Development
Selected submitted applications are listed briefly and separately from current funded research support:
· 2026: NIH/NIA R21 application on proteomic pathways linking CKD to early cognitive impairment in WTC responders (Principal Investigator).
· 2026: CDC/NIOSH U01 application for a pragmatic semaglutide trial addressing vascular and cognitive risk in WTC responders (Principal Investigator).
· 2026: Dialysis Clinic, Inc. Paul Teschan Research Fund application supporting the SENIOR-CKD geriatric-nephrology pilot (Principal Investigator).
· 2025: Multi-institutional NIH R01 applications on PTSD/depression and CKD and on cognitive recovery after critical-illness-associated AKI (Multiple Principal Investigator).
Selected Recent Publications
2025
1. Anzalone AJ, Krichevsky S, Yoo YJ, et al.; National Clinical Cohort Collaborative and RECOVER EHR Cohort. The Association of Long COVID and CKD: Findings from the National Clinical Cohort Collaborative. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 2025;20(10):1323–1340.
2. Wang C, Banerjee R, Kuperstein H, et al. Natural language processing for kidney ultrasound analysis: Correlating imaging reports with chronic kidney disease diagnosis. Renal Failure. 2025;47(1):2539938.
3. Bano R, Clouston SAP, Mann F, et al. Cognitive Impairment: A Novel Risk Factor for Rapid Kidney Function Decline and Incident CKD in Middle-Aged Adults. Kidney360. 2025. doi:10.34067/KID.0000000880.
4. Wang W, Zhu W, Hajagos J, Fochtmann L, Koraishy FM. Classification and Regression Trees Analysis Identifies Patients at High Risk for Kidney Function Decline Following Hospitalization. PLOS ONE. 2025;20(1):e0317558.
These publications reflect Dr. Koraishy’s major research areas in the kidney–brain axis, Long COVID and CKD, clinical informatics, and predictive analytics.
Research Leadership and Recognition
· 2026–2029: Member, SUNY University Faculty Senate Graduate and Research Committee
· 2023–present: Advisory Board, CDC Kidney Disease Surveillance System
· 2020–present: Member, N3C Publication Committee
· 2020–2025: Co-Lead, N3C Kidney Disease Clinical Domain
· 2023–present: Reviewer, International Society of Nephrology meeting abstracts
· 2023: Stony Brook University Department of Medicine Clinical Research Award
· 2019–present: Fellow of the American Society of Nephrology
· 2016–present: American Society of Nephrology Self-Assessment Question Review Panel
· Recipient of research support from NIH, CDC/NIOSH, Dialysis Clinic, Inc., SUNY, the VA, the Stony Brook Department of Medicine, and the American Society of Nephrology.
Research Mentoring and Collaboration
Dr. Koraishy mentors undergraduate, medical, master’s, doctoral, resident, and nephrology-fellow trainees in kidney epidemiology, clinical informatics, causal inference, machine learning, comparative effectiveness, and scientific writing.
His trainees contribute to coordinated projects involving AKI, CKD, cognitive impairment, mental health, national EHR data, NLP, and geriatric nephrology. Former mentees have advanced to residency, nephrology and critical-care fellowships, faculty positions, clinical practice, and research careers.