John Adamson, MD

John Adamson MD is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego.   His long-time interests have been in the regulation of red cell production, more specifically the role of erythropoietin in that process. He helped organize the original clinical trials of recombinant human erythropoietin in treating the anemia of patients with chronic kidney disease and participated in the application of erythropoietin therapy to the other anemias, including chemotherapy-induced anemia in cancer patients.

Dr. Adamson was a member of the original advisory group for the National Kidney Foundation’s Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative (DOQI) that developed guidelines for “best practices” in the use of erythropoietin in kidney-related anemia. Over his prestigious career, he has also been involved in iron metabolism studies and the role of iron supply to the erythron. He has been particularly interested in the alterations in iron metabolism that occur with acute and chronic inflammation and in the use of supplemental iron to enhance the marrow’s response to erythropoietin therapy.   Currently his interests include the mechanisms of anemia as part of the aging process and how to effectively manage anemia in the elderly.  Dr Adamson received his MD from UCLA and has numerous scientific publications throughout his career.