Rex L. Jamison

Administrative Appointments

• Academic Secretary to the University, Stanford University (2007 - present)

Honors and Awards

• Rhodes Scholar, Rhodes Trust (1955 - 1957)
• Guggenheim Fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (1977 - 1978)
• Fellow, American College of Physicians (1985)
• Fellow, Royal College of Physicians (London) (1998)
• Champion of Hope Award, National Kidney Foundation of Northern California (1999)

Professional Education

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Medicine

Community & International Work

• Rhodes Marshall Panel, Stanford University, Stanford University 

Web Site Links

• Description of research

Research Interests

1. The Dept. of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program, "Homocysteinemia in Kidney Disease and End Stage Renal Disease", or "The Homocysteine Study" (HOST), for short, was a prospective, randomized, two-arm, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. Its aim was to determine if large doses of folic acid, vitamins B6 and B12, to lower plasma homocysteine levels, would reduce the mortality (primary endpoint) of patients with advanced chronic kidney disease or end stage kidney disease. Secondary endpoints included symptomatic myocardial infarction, disabling stroke, and amputation of all or part of a leg, a composite of the primary and foregoing secondary endpoints, and in hemodialysis patients, thrombosis of the vascular access. Thirty-six medical centers participated; 2,056 patients were enrolled. The duration of the study was 6 years. The results showed no difference in the number of deaths or cardiovascular events between the treatment and the placebo groups. These findings do not support the widespread use of supplemental vitamins in patients with kidney disease to improve survival or reduce cardiovascular disease.

2. A substudy of HOST, "Genetic Tissue Banking for the HOST Trial", involved the collection and storage of DNA from blood samples taken from HOST subjects. The intent is to determine whether polymorphisms of candidate genes in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease puts them at increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality or interferes with treatment to lower plasma homocysteine levels.

3. A second substudy of HOST, sponsored by the NIH, "Kidney Disease, Hyperhomocysteinemia and Cognitive Function" has been completed. The purpose was to see if vitamin treatment lowered the risk or slowed the progression of cognitive impairment in patients with chronic kidney disease. The results are pending.

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Publications

• Effect of homocysteine lowering on mortality and vascular disease in advanced chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease: a randomized controlled trial. Jamison RL, Hartigan P, Kaufman JS, Goldfarb DS, Warren SR, Guarino PD, Gaziano JM. JAMA. 2007; 298 (10): 1163-70
• Design and statistical issues in the Homocysteinemia in Kidney and End Stage Renal Disease (HOST) Study. Jamison RL, Hartigan P, Gaziano JM, Fortmann SP, Goldfarb DS, Haroldson JA, Lavori P, McCully KS, Robinson K. Clinical Trials. 2004; 1 (5): 451-460
• Countercurrent exchange in the renal medulla. Pallone TL, Turner MR, Edwards A, Jamison RL. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2003; 284 (5): R1153-75
• Natriuretic peptide B receptor and C-type natriuretic peptide in the rat kidney. Lohe A, Yeh I, Hyver T, Pratt R, Jamison R. J Am Soc Nephrol. 1995; 6 (6): 1552-8
• Transport of sodium and urea in outer medullary descending vasa recta. Pallone TL, Work J, Myers RL, Jamison RL. J Clin Invest. 1994; 93 (1): 212-22