It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Dr James Kaufman who served as Associate Editor of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases for 19 years (2006-2025).

Dr Kaufman embarked on his medical career at the University of California, San Francisco, where he attended medical school and remained for his internship and residency before pursuing further training at the University of Michigan. After serving at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, he spent most of his career at the Boston VA Medical Center, with his final years at NYU Medical Center and the New York VA Medical Center.

He was instrumental in organizing the VA research in kidney disease at a national level, leading to 40 years of important clinical trials. As examples, his first study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, highlighted the most effective way to deliver the drug Epoetin and his vascular access trials led to an understanding of how to maintain fistulas for dialysis to optimize access and maintenance.

In 2006, Dr Kaufman was invited to be an Associate Editor by AJKD Emeritus Editor-in-Chief, Dr Andrew Levey: “Jim was a perfect fit with our Boston editorial team. In addition to his expertise in clinical practice and research, he had a special interest in new observations and treatments, and he cared passionately about patients’ unmet needs.”

In 2016, the journal moved to a new home in Philadelphia under the editorship of Dr Harold (Harv) Feldman, and Dr Kaufman graciously agreed to stay on as Senior Associate Editor, a position he held until his passing. If you submitted a manuscript to AJKD, there is a good chance that Dr Kaufman would have seen it among the 3,817 submissions he handled during his 19 years at the journal. It is not an overstatement to say that Dr. Kaufman was invaluable in ensuring that our editorial team identified the value of each and every submission discussed at weekly editorial meetings.

As an editor, he thoroughly enjoyed learning about novel research and helping authors develop their ideas. He would often say:

“I found this interesting and something of which I was not aware.”

“Although not that well-presented, it is fixable.”

“I like unusual manuscripts, and this falls into that category.”

Dr Kaufman devoted many Monday afternoons, actually nearly 1,000 Mondays over the last 2 decades, attending the weekly editorial meetings to discuss manuscripts under consideration. In his resignation letter sent just a few weeks before his passing, he expressed gratitude for the camaraderie created in these meetings:

“My tenure on AJKD has been a wonderful experience. You, my fellow editors, have been an outstanding group to work with. I learn something new every week. You are thorough, thoughtful, and know how to compromise. I will miss the energy of our Monday meetings and the bonds we have established.”

According to Dr Kaufman, his most important role was as a mentor to many Fellows during their training at both Boston University Medical Center and NYU Medical Center. This year, AJKD had planned to introduce a new category of our annual Editors’ Choice Award in recognition of outstanding research published in the journal by early-career researchers. We thought it fitting to name this award after Dr Kaufman to honor his legacy and dedication to the journal. The awardees will be announced during Kidney Week in November.

Dr Kaufman is survived by his wife Bonnie, his daughter Karen (Harris) and son-in-law Ian, and grandchildren Luke and Georgiana (“Georgie”), and his sister Joan.

We all learned from every interaction with Dr Kaufman, who was always deeply insightful, personable, positive, and respectful, and we will miss him tremendously at the journal. We encourage all those who have been touched by his kindness and generosity to visit his obituary and share your memories of him in the online guestbook.