MD/PhD • Nephrology, genetics, and clonal hematopoiesis 🧬
Queen's University – Canada
Joined April 2012
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“What is the role of vasopressin?”
A nephrologist will talk about osmolality and aquaporins.
An intensivist might talk about its use as a pressor.
But, ask an evolutionary or social scientist and you might be surprised by the answer…
#MedTwitter #NephTwitter #NSMC
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
I never thought WE will be doing this successfully in 2026!
“If you can dream it, you can do it.”
@MayoClinic
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
Happy to have contributed to this work with Mustafa and Alan's group in Circulation @CircAHA! In this work, we show that Tet2-mutant 🧬 macrophages can't ramp up glycolysis, which cripples their ability to clear dead cells (efferocytosis) so atherosclerotic plaques fail to resolve. w/@LinkeLi_MGH
Link to paper: ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/…
Impaired Glycolysis Leads to Defective Efferocytosis and Impaired Plaque Resolution in Tet2 Clonal Hematopoiesis | Circulation ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/…
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
Nephrologists, fellows, APPs & genetic counselors: join Silvia Titan and me for #NephroGenetics Update 2026!
Practical cases. Expert discussions. Connections beyond the lecture hall.
Dec 4 & 5 | Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville
Join us in person: tinyurl.com/Nephrogenetics @MayoClinicNeph
Thrilled to finally be working with @TheSampsonLab as a @kidneycanada KRESCENT post-doc.
krescent.ca/en/awardees/cait…
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
In ADPKD, probenecid reduced tolvaptan-induced polyuria and nocturia while preserving its disease-modifying effects (from @jclinicalinvest @fouadchebib)
🔑 A potential strategy to make tolvaptan more tolerable - and a new window into renal water homeostasis
#Nephpearls
👉 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4229… – at Riverside, IL
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
Check out the video abstract of our published work in @jclinicalinvest
youtu.be/BYqjATW50-s?is=ZIKb…
jci.org/articles/view/197021
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
It's been a while now, but @DrFlashHeart and I are excited to share that our work exploring somatic gene x environment interactions between CHIP and air pollution in lung cancer is now published in @JNCI_Now
doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djag159
Air pollution is a recently recognized driver of lung cancer among never-smokers.
In a new preprint, we show that clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) and PM2.5 form a novel gene × environment interaction promoting NSCLC tumorigenesis.
medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
Our preprint led by @M_Mesbah_Uddin @ZhiYu_ACGT and with @AlexBickMDPhD describes the germline genetic drivers and phenotypic associations of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential across >1M individuals medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/… @medrxivpreprint
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
New preprint out! We asked: can we tell which CHIP mutations actually matter for disease risk? Analyzing >1 million individuals across @ukbiobank, @AllofUsResearch, and @VUMChealth BioVU — here's what we found. 🧵 (1/9)
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
It was my honor to present the phase 1b trial results of Farabursen in ADPKD at WCN @ISNkidneycare
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
Our manuscript led by @NakaoTetsushi @skoyamamd - a comprehensive characterization of leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a hallmark of biological aging across the US nature.com/articles/s41588-0… @NatureGenet
Quick summary of lessons learned:
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is a risk factor for many chronic inflammatory diseases of aging. In the largest study to date on CHIP and RA, Zhao et al ascertained RA status in >600,000 participants from the @uk_biobank, NIH @AllofUsResearch, and @VUMCDiscoveries BioVU. CHIP was associated with an increased risk of late-onset, seropositive RA. This work has implications for understanding the consequences of CHIP and the provenance of late-onset RA
@rheumrob & 1st author @drkunzhao
A&R
doi.org/10.1002/art.70133
ALT Association of Clonal Hematopoiesis with Incident, Late-Onset, Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis. Graphical abstract created using BioRender
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
Listen to this episode of @febrilepodcast featuring @DrFlashHeart, @HariNataraj94, @kantsmd, Jeannina Smith, and @ssfarouk as they chat about the Trolls of Transplantation Region:
player.captivate.fm/episode/…
#NephMadness
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
Excited to share that I defended my PhD in Human Genetics 🧬
I am immensely grateful to my mentor @AlexBickMDPhD, my family, my co advisor Dan Roden, my labmates, the @VanderbiltMSTP, our amazing collaborators, my committee, and everyone who has supported me!
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
🧬 NEPHROGENETICS Update 2026
Integrating Genetics into Clinical Practice
📍 Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Florida
📅 December 4–5, 2026
A premier national and international gathering on inherited kidney diseases, precision diagnostics, and emerging therapies. Live + livestream.
🔔 Save the date and sign up to be notified when registration opens:
ce.mayo.edu/nephrology/conte…
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
ASN Kidney News Feb 2026 From Marrow to Podocyte: Following the suPAR Trail kidneynews.org/view/journals… @asnpublications @DrFlashHeart
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
Exciting research news!
DoM fellow, Dr. Michael Raddatz, and his team published groundbreaking research in @JClinicalInvest uncovering how CHIP mutations increase the risk of aortic valve disease. Their work could lead to new preventive treatments: uclahs.fyi/49JfFhi
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
We are excited to share our recent work in @CCR_AACR demonstrating that in humans in @VUMCDiscoveries BioVU and the @WHIStudy, metformin does not alter the longitudinal dynamics of clonal hematopoiesis to a clinically significant degree... 🧵 1/7
aacrjournals.org/clincancerr…
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
@rheumrob,@AlexBickMDPhD, & I are excited to share that our work is now out in @jclinicalinvest! CHIP epi studies underestimate the association between CHIP & disease using WGS vs deep sequencing. Many thanks to the co-authors, participants, & reviewers! doi.org/10.1172/JCI198861
Using a unique cohort of 10k doubly sequenced people in @VUMCDiscoveries's BioVU, @AlexBickMDPhD, @yash_pershad, and I investigated how well #WGS data really works for detecting #CHIP. medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/…. Thread below! 1/n
Caitlyn Vlasschaert retweeted
Congrats @DrFlashHeart (Caitlyn Vlasschaert) on your work providing 🩸clonal hematopoiesis 🧬genetic phenotypes for @uk_biobank in conjunction with @AlexBickMDPhD @jaiswalmdphd @pnatarajanmd & others. An incredible resource for the world! #CH #CHIP @QueensUHealth @QueensuDOM biobank.ndph.ox.ac.uk/showca…
