A tribute to an individual who has spent much of his life dedicated to medicine, research, education, public policy, and in the development of excellence in all aspects of patient care locally, nationally and internationally.
Dr. Greifer graduated from the University of Vermont Medical School in 1956 and completed his Internship and residency in the Department of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine under his mentor, Henry L. Barnett, M.D. He was the first Einstein trained resident to become Chief Resident at that institution.
After two years in the Navy, he returned to Einstein in 1961 to work under the direction of Dr. Henry L. Barnett. For the next four years he worked as a fellow for Dr. Barnett in clinical nephrology and began his long association with Dr. Chester M. Edelmann, Jr.
Dr. Greifer developed a collaborative study of acute glomerulonephritis which brought new insight into the natural history and progression of that disease and changed the thinking that had been prevalent for many decades. During that time Dr. Chester M. Edelmann and he developed a new technique for renal biopsy which is known as the Greifer Edelmann technique which became used all over the world.
In 1965 Dr. Greifer was appointed Director of Pediatrics at the Hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at the age of 34. At that time, he also began the development of the Children’s Kidney Center which over the years became one of the outstanding diagnostic and clinical treatment programs aimed at children’s kidney disease in the U.S.
In 1966-67, Dr. Greifer realized that diagnosis, treatment and research did not fully help the patients, so he became interested in public policy. He was asked by doctors Lewis Welt, Neal Bricker, Don Seldin, and Henry Barnett to become Medical Advisor to the National Kidney Foundation and to the Kidney Urology Foundation of New York, both organizations in their infancy. He took on this responsibility and realized that patients and research required a major effort in order to help patients with kidney diseases. This resulted in his leadership in a national effort to develop public policy directed at research and patient care in kidney disease.
This led to the development of the Kidney Disease Institute of the State of New York. Kidney programs were developed and supported by Medicaid. Most importantly, he spent six years as part of the effort to develop the structure and strategy eventually resulting in the passage of HR-!, the first national legislation to provide coverage through Medicare for all individuals in need of dialysis and transplantation.
Dr. Greifer was one of the first to realize the need for regionalization of care and as Chairman of the Regional Medicaid Program for kidney disease and hypertension, he developed the first Regional Plan for delivery of care for areas in the U.S. He was also instrumental in conceiving the plans for the development of Regional Medical Centers which would not only improve the quality of medical care but also the patient’s access across the U.S.
Dr Greifer served on multiple Gubernational and Presidential committees to develop improved methods for the delivery of health care. He was appointed by Governor Rockefeller as Chairman of the New York Kidney Disease Institute in 1967 and reappointed by Governor Carey to serve as a member of the Health Research Council and the Special Commission on Hypertension. In recognition of his meritorious work in New York State, Governor Carey named the week of March 28th to April 2nd, 1977, the Kidney Disease Institute Week in his honor. He was subsequently appointed to the Hospital Review and Planning Committee of New York State. by Governor Cuomo.
He developed with Drs. Barnett and Edelmann, Jr., the International Study of Kidney Disease in Children to promote research into the problems of nephrosis and the main causes of pediatric kidney disease. As Co-Director with these leaders, Dr. Greifer was successful in expanding the studies throughout the international pediatric nephrology community engaging 25 clinical programs from Japan to Finland.
In addition to these successful efforts, Dr. Greifer also spearheaded the creation of the first Children’s Dialysis and Transplant Center on the East Coast of the U.S. at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He also developed unique programs at the University Hospital such as the first Mother-In Program, the Short-Stay Unit, One Day Surgery Program and the Pediatric Special Care Unit, and the world’s first mainstreaming summer dialysis camp experience at Frost Valley YMCA. All these helped bring the University Hospital at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine to the forefront of pediatric medicine in the U.S. He served as a consultant to many hospitals, medical centers and pediatricians throughout the U.S. and was instrumental in the careers of many medical students, trainees, faculty and healthcare administrators.
Dr. Greifer was invited as a speaker and organizer to professional organizations throughout the world His leadership included serving as President of the American Society of Pediatric Nephology. He was the second Secretary General of the International Pediatric Nephrology Association [IPNA} in 1983, a global collaboration in which he and other accomplished pediatric nephrology leaders from the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia including the first Secretary General, Gavin Arneill from Scotland. IPNA sprang from the successful Internation Study of Kidney Disease in Children and brought into existence an extensive global collaboration of programs dedicated to the care of children with kidney disease.
His ability to bridge the relationships between medicine and the State and Federal legislatures has been legendary and has resulted in improved access to specialty care and funding of research in kidney disease. It should be noted that while he served as Chairman of the National Kidney Foundation, he was instrumental in finding funds to support the training of numerous new investigators in adult and pediatric nephrology. These efforts continue to this day and hundreds of nephrologists worldwide received support during critical times in their training as NKF Fellows, a program Dr Greifer helped initiate.
He received numerous awards and recognitions including: the Lester Hoenig Award for Outstanding Achievement in Nephrology and Hypertension of the National Kidney Foundation; The Tristam Walker Metcalfe Award from Long Island University for humanitarian and community activities; the Founder’s Award from the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology; the 1993 recipient of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Nephrology Kidney Award; The first Ira Greifer Award from the International Pediatric Nephrology Association for outstanding contributions to global pediatric nephrology; the Award of Honor from the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies; the Award of Honor from the National Association of Patients on Hemodialysis and Transplantation; the Award of Honor from the Ruth Gottscho Kidney Foundation and the Humanitarian Award from the Kidney Foundation of Philadelphia.
In summary and most importantly, is the recognition of his compassion and commitment by patients and families challenged with kidney disease to whom he provided constant support and inspiration throughout his long and productive professional career. He never forgot his humble beginnings as a newspaper delivery boy in a small New Jersey town and he was a model of a dedicated husband to Carol, the love of his life, and his three daughters and many grandchildren. He will always be remembered as a visionary in pediatric nephrology whose achievements will continue to provide light to those who have followed in his footsteps. Dr. Greifer passed away on September 17, 2014, at the age of 83.