Naoka Murakami, MD PhD, is Assistant Professor and a transplant nephrologist at Washington University in St. Louis. She received MD-PhD degree from University of Tokyo, Japan, and completed Internal Medicine residency Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York, followed by Nephrology and Transplant Nephrology fellowship in the combined program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Her primary research interest is allograft tolerance and T cell immunobiology. Her research project has been supported by NIH and American Society of Nephrology. Her clinical focus is on the care for kidney transplant recipients with cancer (Transplant Onconephrology), in collaboration with Siteman Cancer Center. She’s passionate about delivering palliative care to kidney transplant candidates and recipients.
This program will offer valuable guidance for healthcare providers on managing challenging conversations with patients and families, particularly when transplantation is no longer an option or when dealing with allograft failure. We will be joined by a panel of experts who will discuss the broader context, including the attitudes and beliefs of patients, providers, and care partners, and will explore practical solutions to implement. Additionally, they will provide strategies for navigating care transitions, including delivering bad news and setting care goals. Using real-life case scenarios, the program will equip providers with effective and compassionate communication skills to handle these challenging situations with sensitivity and clarity.