Paul A. Welling, M.D. is the Joseph S. and Esther Handler Professor of Medicine, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the North American Coordinator of the Foundation Leducq Global Network of Excellence to understand the relationship between dietary potassium and blood pressure. He received his medical degree from the University of Kansas Medical School and completed his post-doctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Welling is an authority on the molecular bases of potassium and sodium balance, electrolyte disorders, and hypertension.

Dr. Welling’s laboratory is recognized for elucidating how ion transport molecules in the kidney control salt balance and discovering how these molecules go awry in disorders of electrolyte balance and hypertension. A major focus of Dr. Welling’s current research program seeks to understand how the kidney senses dietary potassium to regulate potassium, salt balance, and prevent high blood pressure.  His research, which spans from gene discovery to animal studies to clinical-translational investigation, has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (25 years) since his appointment on the faculty at Maryland.

Dr. Welling has served in many leadership and scientific advisory roles. Currently, he is a chair of the NIH study section, Kidney Molecular Biology, and Development. He is chair of the American Physiological Society Finance Committee. He is a Fellow of the American Heart Association (AHA) and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, gardening and traveling.

Publications

• Insights into Salt Handling and Blood Pressure.
  Ellison DH, Welling P.N Engl J Med. 2021 Nov 18;385(21):1981-1993. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra2030212.PMID: 34788509 Review. No abstract available. [Article]


• Critical role of the mineralocorticoid receptor in aldosterone-dependent and aldosterone-independent regulation of ENaC in the distal nephron
  Nesterov V, Bertog M, Canonica J, Hummler E, Coleman R, Welling PA, Korbmacher C.Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2021 Sep 1;321(3):F257-F268. doi: 10.1152/ajprenal.00139.2021. Epub 2021 Jul 12.PMID: 34251271 [Article]


• Rapid Development of Vasopressin Resistance in Dietary Potassium Deficiency
  Lama Al-Qusairi*, P. Richard Grimm*, Ava M. Zapf, and Paul A. Welling. journals.physiology.org/journal/ajprenal at Johns Hopkins Univ Serials Dept Electronic (162.129.250.015) on March 28, 2021. [Article]


• Mutation affecting the conserved acidic WNK1 motif causes inherited hyperkalemic hyperchloremic acidosis.
  Louis-Dit-Picard H, Kouranti I, Rafael C, Loisel-Ferreira I, Chavez-Canales M, Abdel-Khalek W, Argaiz ER, Baron S, Vacle S, Migeon T, Coleman R, Do Cruzeiro M, Hureaux M, Thurairajasingam N, Decramer S, Girerd X, O'Shaugnessy K, Mulatero P, Roussey G, Tack I, Unwin R, Vargas-Poussou R, Staub O, Grimm R, Welling PA, Gamba G, Clauser E, Hadchouel J, Jeunemaitre X.J Clin Invest. 2020 Dec 1;130(12):6379-6394. doi: 10.1172/JCI94171. [Article]


• Distal convoluted tubule sexual dimorphism revealed by advanced 3D imaging.
  Ebrahim Tahaei, Richard Coleman, Turgay Saritas, David H. Ellison, and Paul A Welling. AJP Renal. 2020 Sep 14;doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00441.2020 Online ahead of print. [Article]


• The single-cell transcriptomic landscape of early human diabetic nephropathy
  Wilson PC, Wu H, Kirita Y, Uchimura K, Ledru N, Rennke HG, Welling PA, Waikar SS, Humphreys BD. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Sep 24;116(39):19619-19625. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1908706116. Epub 2019 Sep 10. PMID: 31506348 [Article]


• Optical Clearing in the Kidney Reveals Potassium-Mediated Tubule Remodeling.
  Saritas T, Puelles VG, Su XT, McCormick JA, Welling PA, Ellison DH. Cell Rep. 2018 Dec 4;25(10):2668-2675.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.11.021. PMID: 30517856  [Article]


• Mechanism of Hyperkalemia-Induced Metabolic Acidosis
  Harris AN, Grimm PR, Lee HW, Delpire E, Fang L, Verlander JW, Welling PA, Weiner ID. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2018 May;29(5):1411-1425. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2017111163. Epub 2018 Feb 26. PMID: 29483157 [Article]


• Constitutively Active SPAK Causes Hyperkalemia by Activating NCC and Remodeling Distal Tubules
  Grimm PR, Coleman R, Delpire E, Welling PA. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2017 Sep;28(9):2597-2606. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2016090948. Epub 2017 Apr 25. PMID: 28442491 [Article]


• A Common Signal Patch Drives AP-1 Protein-dependent Golgi Export of Inwardly Rectifying Potassium Channel
  Li X, Ortega B, Kim B, Welling PA. J Biol Chem. 2016 Jul 15;291(29):14963-72. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M116.729822. Epub 2016 May 23. PMID: 27226616 [Article]