Mr. Christopher S. Wilcox, MD, PhD

Expert Publications

• What is brain nitric oxide synthase doing in the kidney?
• Oxidative stress and nitric oxide synthase in rat diabetic nephropathy: effects of ACEI and ARB.
• Role of thromboxane receptors in the dipsogenic response to central angiotensin II.
• Expression and cellular localization of classic NADPH oxidase subunits in the spontaneously hypertensive rat kidney.
• New insights into diuretic use in patients with chronic renal disease.
• Reactive oxygen species: roles in blood pressure and kidney function.
• A mouse model of angiotensin II slow pressor response: role of oxidative stress.
• Renal oxygenation defects in the spontaneously hypertensive rat: role of AT1 receptors.
• Renal function and outcome of PTRA and stenting for atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis.
• Thromboxane synthase and TP receptor mRNA in rat kidney and brain: effects of salt intake and ANG II.
• Omapatrilat: still a promise in salt-sensitive hypertension?
• High-dose angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition restores body fluid homeostasis in heart-transplant recipients.
• Effects of ANG II type 1 and 2 receptors on oxidative stress, renal NADPH oxidase, and SOD expression.
• Roles of oxidative stress and AT1 receptors in renal hemodynamics and oxygenation in the postclipped 2K,1C kidney.
• Contributions of nitric oxide, EDHF, and EETs to endothelium-dependent relaxation in renal afferent arterioles.

Media Releases

Get to know Nephrologist Dr. Christopher S. Wilcox, who serves patients in Washington, D.C.

A seasoned nephrologist, Dr. Wilcox is affiliated with MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, and is a full-time Professor of Nephrology & Hypertension, and Pharmacology & Physiology at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. His special interests include secondary forms of hypertension (including renovascular hypertension, adrenal hypertension, and hypertension complicating kidney disease), management of complicated and drug-resistant hypertension, and renal disease.

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is committed to creating an environment of personalized care focused on the unique needs of their patients. Their physicians—many of them fellowship-trained—are nationally and internationally renowned for their expertise, as well as for their innovative approaches from diagnosis to treatments. They are dedicated to ensuring continuity of care through their expert specialty and multidisciplinary teams from initial consults to second opinions and complex surgeries.

In regards to his educational background, Dr. Wilcox graduated with his medical degree from Oxford University, where he was third in his class out of 140 students. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) in kidney physiology and hypertension from London University, and was later appointed a Professor of Medicine at the same educational venue, as well as at Cambridge University.

In 1978, he came to the United States as a professor at Yale University and later as a professor at Harvard University at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He spent 9 years at the University of Florida where he opened a new Hypertension Center. He was appointed Chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, and Director of the Hypertension, Kidney and Vascular Research Center at Georgetown University and Medstar Georgetown University Hospital. He held these positions for 25 years until passing them on to devote more time to research and teaching.

As a testament of his continued education, the doctor is board-certified in nephrology and internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The ABIM is a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world.

Achieving fellowship status, Dr. Wilcox is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (FRSM), and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in the UK, as well as Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP), Fellow of the American Association of Professors (FAAP), and Fellow of the American Society of Nephrology (FASN).

An avid researcher, his scientific research centers on studies of kidney and microvascular disease in hypertension, and is supported by 5 grants from the NIH. One of these has been funded for 30 years, another is a Program Project Grant that funds 3 collaborative research centers at Georgetown University, and another funds research training for fellows in nephrology and hypertension. His research encompasses experiments on genes, cells and animal models in addition to clinical research in patients with hypertension and kidney diseases.

Furthermore, he has published more than 400 papers on kidney disease and hypertension and authored ten books. He has chaired the American Heart Association Hypertension Council that is the leading academic program for hypertension in the US. He also has patents for new drugs to treat oxidative stress, has chaired 4 NIH peer review groups, and has delivered 8 name lectures at universities.

Nephrology is a specialty of medicine and pediatrics that concerns itself with the kidneys. It is 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 care or kidney transplantation when it becomes necessary.

Recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Heart Association, Dr. Wilcox delivered the Dahl Lecture to the society, and the Frank Starling Lecture to the American Physiology Society.

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