Dr. Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS

Expert Publications

• Tacrolimus withdrawal and conversion to sirolimus at three months post-pediatric renal transplantation.
• Prevalence of clinical rejection after surveillance biopsies in pediatric renal transplants: does early subclinical rejection predispose to subsequent rejection episodes?

Clinical Trials

• Urological and Renal Disease Engaging Adolescents in Adherence Collaborative Trial

Media Releases

Get to know Nephrologist Dr. Sandra Amaral, who serves patients in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Amaral is a fellowship-trained nephrologist whose area of expertise is kidney transplant medicine. She is an attending physician within the Division of Nephrology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and is a part of the Kidney Transplant and Dialysis Program. She also holds the Distinguished Endowed Chair with the Department of Pediatrics.

Among her other titles include: Medical Director of the Kidney Transplant and Hand Transplant programs at CHOP, where she leads the Kidney Transplant Transition Clinic Program; Founder & Director of the CHOP IT Up  Cooking Camp for youth with kidney disease; Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; and Associate Fellow of the Center for Health Behavior Research at the University of Pennsylvania.

Some of the conditions that she treats include acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract, hematuria, hemolytic uremic syndrome in children, nephrotic syndrome in children, polycystic kidney disease, protein in urine (proteinuria), and urinary tract infection.

Academically, Dr. Amaral completed her undergraduate training at Wesleyan University, with a major in Western European History, Philosophy, and Literature. She then received her medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania-Hahnemann University School of Medicine, and her internship and residency in pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. She further completed her fellowship in pediatric nephrology at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, and received a Master of Health Science degree in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins. 

Before she joined CHOP, Dr. Amaral served as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University-Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta from 2006-2011.

With years of experience, the doctor is board-certified in pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP). The mission of the ABP is to advance child health by certifying pediatricians who meet standards of excellence and are committed to continuous learning and improvement.

A staunch public policy advocate for children and young adults with renal disease and their caregivers, Dr. Amaral serves on the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology (ASPN) Council, and previously chaired the ASPN Public Policy Committee. She has served on the United Network for Organ Sharing Pediatrics, Kidney Committees, and patient affaris, she regularly engages in Capitol Hill Advocacy Days with the ASPN and the American Society of Nephrology.

Continuously advancing her efforts, she is an active member of the International Pediatric Nephrology Association, the International Pediatric Transplant Association, the American Society of Transplantation, the American Society of Nephrology, and the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology, among others.

Pediatric Nephrology is a specialty of pediatrics that concerns itself with the kidneys: the study of normal kidney function and kidney disease, the preservation of kidney health, and the treatment of kidney disease, from diet and medication to renal replacement therapy. Nephrologists have advanced training in treating kidney disease. They diagnose and treat kidney failure, as well as help patients by prescribing medications, offering special diet advice, and coordinating dialysis and transplant care when the time comes. 

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Amaral’s research is focused on kidney transplantation with particular interests in reducing treatment burden for adolescents and young adults — from designing studies to make daily medication regimens easier to diagnosing transplant injury earlier using innovative, non-invasive approaches. She is currently the principal investigator of U-REAACT, a text messaging intervention to promote treatment adherence in youth with kidney transplants and spina bifida. She is also co-principal investigator of an international study, VIRTUUS, to validate urinary biomarker signals associated with rejection and infections in children with kidney transplants. 

Among her editorial positions, Dr. Amaral is a reviewer for the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, the American Journal of Transplantation, Pediatric Nephrology, and Pediatric Transplantation.

Attributing her success to excellent mentorship & supportive colleagues and staff, she has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including: Philadelphia Magazine’s Top Doctors in Pediatric Nephrology, 2022; Castle Connolly Top Doctor, Philadelphia, 2016; Castle Connolly Top Doctor, United States, 2015-2016; Selection to the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology Leadership Development Program, 2015; Healthcare Heroes Finalist, Physician category, Atlanta Business Chronicle, 2010; Guide to America’s Top Pediatricians, Pediatric Nephrology, Consumers’ Research Council of America, 2010; Golden Apple Honorable Mention Award, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Health Education Expo, recognizing outstanding accomplishment in healthcare education, 2008; Pediatric Research Funding Recipient, 2008; Clinical Innovator Award for New Program Development, Emory University, Department of Pediatrics, 2008; Best Doctors in America, 2007-2016; Joseph W. Crooks Faculty Development Award in Children’s Health, Emory University, Department of Pediatrics, 2006; National Kidney Foundation Travel Award, 2006;National Kidney Foundation Mini-Grant recipient, 2004; Renal Disease Epidemiology Training Grant recipient, 2003; American Society of Pediatric Nephrology Travel Award, 2002; MCP-Hahnemann Student Research Fellowship Award, 1997; and Primary Care Scholar, Penn. State Univ. College of Medicine, Primary Care Initiative Program, 1995.

Outside of practicing medicine, Dr. Amaral enjoys doing yoga, reading, cooking, and spending time with her family. Her favorite professional publications are the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and the American Journal of Transplantation.

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