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Department
LocationTexas Medical Center
Specialty
Genetics
Phone: 832-822-2100
Fax: 832-825-4294
Address
6701 Fannin Street
Wallace Tower, Suite 1560
Houston, TX 77030
Mir Reza Bekheirnia, MD, FACMG
Director, Renal Genetics Clinic
Assistant Professor of Molecular and Human Genetics and Pediatrics (Renal), Baylor College of Medicine
Education
| School | Education | Degree | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor College of Medicine | Fellowship | Clinical Molecular Genetics and Genomics | 2012 |
| Baylor College of Medicine | Fellowship | Clinical Genetics and Genomics | 2011 |
| University of Colorado School of Medicine | Postgraduate Education | PostDoctoral Fellowship | 2009 |
| University of Colorado School of Medicine | Residency | Internal Medicine | 2008 |
| University of Colorado School of Medicine | Internship | Internal Medicine | 2007 |
| Tehran University School of Medicine | Medical School | Doctor of Medicine | 2000 |
About
Dr. Bekheirnia is an American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG)-certified medical geneticist and practices at Texas Children’s Hospital, Harris Health System and the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. He has a broad set of skills and interests in both pediatric and adult genetics. “My career goal has been to provide evidence-based and compassionate care for my patients and their families and to expand access to medical genetics care for our community.” Dr. Bekheirnia started a devoted renal genetics clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital in 2015 and has shown the impact of genetic evaluation on precision diagnosis and management of patients with a wide range of kidney diseases. He has also led research projects primarily focused on genotype-phenotype correlations, phenotypic expansion and description of genetic disorders. “I am privileged to be part of the medical care of individuals with a variety of diagnoses.”
Clinical Interests
Pediatric genetics, adult genetics, renal genetics
Research Interests
Renal genetics and genomics, precision medicine, Congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tracts (CAKUT)
Organizations
| Organization Name | Role |
|---|---|
| ACMG Professional Practice and Guidelines Committee | Co-chair, Genetic evaluation of potential kidney donors |
| ACMG Summer Scholar Program at BCM | Director |
| American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) | Fellow |
| American Society of Human Genetics | Member |
| American Society of Nephrology | Member |
Selected Publications
Alge JL, Bekheirnia N, Willcockson AR, Qin X, Scherer SE, Braun MC, Bekheirnia MR. Variants in genes coding for collagen type IV α-chains are frequent causes of persistent, isolated hematuria during childhood. Pediatric Nephrol. 2023 Mar;38(3):687-695. PMID: 35759000.
Ben Moshe Y, Bekheirnia N, Smith RJH, Hicks J, Braun MC, Bekheirnia MR. Genetic diagnosis and renal biopsy findings in the setting of a renal genetics clinic. American Journal of Medical Genetics C Semin Med Genet. 2022 Sep;190(3):302-308. PMID: 36239278.
Bekheirnia MR. Introduction to special issue for kidney genetics. American Journal of Medical Genetics C Semin Med Genet. 2022 Sep;190(3):261. PMID: 36218249.
Bekheirnia N, Glinton KE, Rossetti L, Manor J, Chen W, Lamb DJ, Braun MC, Bekheirnia MR. Clinical Utility of Genetic Testing in the Precision Diagnosis and Management of Pediatric Patients with Kidney and Urinary Tract Diseases. Kidney360. 2020 Oct 30;2(1):90-104. PMID:35368817.
Blackburn ATM, Bekheirnia N, Uma VC, Corkins ME, Xu Y, Rosenfeld JA,Bainbridge MN, Yang Y, Liu P, Madan-Khetarpal S, Delgado MR, Hudgins L, KrantzI, Rodriguez-Buritica D, Wheeler PG, Al-Gazali L, Mohamed Saeed Mohamed Al Shamsi A, Gomez-Ospina N, Chao HT, Mirzaa GM, Scheuerle AE, Kukolich MK, Scaglia F, Eng C, Willsey HR, Braun MC, Lamb DJ, Miller RK, Bekheirnia MR. DYRK1A-related intellectual disability: a syndrome associated with congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract. Genetics in Medicine. 2019 Dec;21(12):2755-2764. PMID: 31263215.
Bekheirnia MR, Bekheirnia N, Bainbridge MN, Gu S, Coban Akdemir ZH, Gambin T, Janzen NK, Jhangiani SN, Muzny DM, Michael M, Brewer ED, Elenberg E, Kale AS, Riley AA, Swartz SJ, Scott DA, Yang Y, Srivaths PR, Wenderfer SE, Bodurtha J, Applegate CD, Velinov M, Myers A, Borovik L, Craigen WJ, Hanchard NA, Rosenfeld JA, Lewis RA, Gonzales ET, Gibbs RA, Belmont JW, Roth DR, Eng C, Braun MC, Lupski JR, Lamb DJ. Whole-exome sequencing in the molecular diagnosis ofindividuals with congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract and identification of a new causative gene. Genetics in Medicine. 2017 Apr;19(4):412-420. PMID: 27657687.
Yang Y, Muzny DM, Reid JG, Bainbridge MN, Willis A, Ward PA, Braxton A, Beuten J, Xia F, Niu Z, Hardison M, Person R, Bekheirnia MR, Leduc MS, Kirby A, Pham P, Scull J, Wang M, Ding Y, Plon SE, Lupski JR, Beaudet AL, Gibbs RA, Eng CM. Clinical whole-exome sequencing for the diagnosis of mendelian disorders. New England Journal of Medicine. 2013 Oct 17;369(16):1502-11. PMID: 24088041.
Awards & Honors
2003 Young scientist award in 2nd Young Medics’ International Conference, Yerevan, Armenia
2003 Young scientist award- presenting poster, 9th European Nutrition Conference; Rome, Italy
2003 WHO Collaboration Center grant, 4th European Congress on Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis, Nice, France
2004 Award of International Society of Endocrinology; Travel grant to 2nd International Congress of Endocrinology; Lisbon
2004 Travel grant of the Society for Endocrinology; participation in the 195th meeting of the Society for Endocrinology; London, UK
2005 Joint Japan/World Bank Graduation Study Program (JJ/WBGSP); selected for educational scholarship award
2011 Licensed to practice medicine in state of Texas
2012-2018 K12 scholar, DK0083014, the Multidisciplinary K12 Urologic Research (KURe) Career Development Program Award
2015 Outstanding oral presentation award, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
2020- Director, Renal Genetics Natera Center of Excellence, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX
2023 Excellent Adult Genetics Attending Award, Baylor College of Medicine
2023 STAR Award for Clinical Excellence in Patient Care, Baylor College of Medicine
* Texas Children's Hospital physicians' licenses and credentials are reviewed prior to practicing at any of our facilities. Sections titled From the Doctor, Professional Organizations and Publications were provided by the physician's office and were not verified by Texas Children's Hospital.