Macaulay Onuigbo

BIO

Macaulay Onuigbo MD MSc MBA FWACP FASN is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont, USA. He received his MD degree from the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Nigeria, in 1981 and graduated as the best graduating medical student in his class. He holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (1988), and an MBA degree from the University of Wisconsin (2012). He has trained and worked in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the USA. He has four formal Nephrology Fellowship training experiences at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) in Enugu, Nigeria, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, United Kingdom, a Nephrology Research Fellowship at the University of Texas Houston Health Science Center (UTHHSC) (1994-1996), and a Nephrology/Transplant Nephrology Fellowship at the Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (2000-2002). He is American Board of Medicine (ABIM) board-certified in both Internal Medicine and in Nephrology. He is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians (FWACP – Nephrology), and a Fellow of the American Society of Nephrology (FASN). He is also a trained Transplant Nephrologist. He retired from Mayo Clinic/Mayo Clinic Health System, as an Associate Professor of Medicine, in January 2018, after more than 15 years of meritorious clinical and academic service. Mac has 4 published Nephrology books, 20 book chapters, over 120 peer-reviewed PubMed cited journal publications, and over 220 published conference abstracts. Mac has contributed to the modern medical English literature and has published and described several new clinical syndromes including the syndrome of late onset renal failure from angiotensin blockade (LORFFAB, 2005), the concept of Renoprevention (2009), the syndrome of rapid onset end stage renal disease (SOROESRD, 2010) and the newly described “Locke-Onuigbo Maneuver” to achieve anticoagulation-free hemodialysis (2021). Working with the University of Vermont (UVM) College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences and the University of Vermont Center for Biomedical Innovations (UVM CBI), Dr. Onuigbo then championed the development of a first-generation, and subsequently, a second-generation prototype of the Hemodialysis Filter Rotator (HDFR), in 2023, to achieve anticoagulation-free hemodialysis. He served on two international Expert Committees on hyperkalemia with groundbreaking expert panel recommendations publications in 2017 on Patiromer, a potassium binder, and more recently, the most comprehensive and the most cited expert panel recommendations on the Clinical Management of Hyperkalemia in the journal, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, in 2021. Dr. Onuigbo is the Founder and President of the Hemodialysis Filter Rotator (HDFR) 2025 Project International Consortium, that was established in early February 2025 to fund and complete clinical trials of the Hemodialysis Filter Rotator (HDFR) and to enable the use of the HDFR around the world.

Courses

• Sodium and Potassium Disorders (MedEd 303) 
• CRR Course (IM Residents) 
• Acute Kidney Injury (MedEd 303)

Publications

NIH Publications

Awards and Achievements

• 1978 National (Academic) Merit award – Ministry of Education, Nigeria 
• 1981 Best Student Prize Award, Final MBBS (MD) examination
• 1999 Second Prize Winner, Poster presentation (Macroaspartate Transaminesemia) at the 8th Annual Maryland Associates Meeting, American College of Physicians 
• 2007 Fellowship of the American Society of Nephrology (FASN) 
• 2009 Mayo Health System MacMillan Management Scholarship Award 
• 2010 Mayo Health System (MHS) Education System Oriented Application Research (SOAR) Grant Award 
• 2012 MBA Summa Cum Laude – University of Wisconsin Consortium 
• 2012 University of Wisconsin MBA Consortium Most Outstanding Graduate 
• 2014 Mayo Clinic 2014 Division of Hypertension and Nephrology Integration Research Award 
• 2014 “Best Abstract” Award, 16th International Conference on Dialysis/Renal Research Institute, NY 
• 2016 Mayo Medallion (The Physician Mayo Medallion is an adaptation of the Military’s Commander Coin) 
• 2016 2019 2020 Election to membership, O’Brien Kidney Research Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. 
• September 2016 – January 2018 The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine, University of Vermont The Teaching Academy Medical Education Fellowship Program Certificate. 
• September 2018 – May 2019. Election to Expert Teacher, The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine Teaching Academy, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT. 
• Effective 12-11-2019 - Present. 2024 ScholarGPS (Powering Scholarly Analytics) 
• July 2024 named Dr. Macaulay Onuigbo as one of the top 0.5% of all scholars worldwide.

Academic Appointments

• 2019-current, University of Vermont, Professor, Medicine
• 2018-2019, University of Vermont, Associate Professor, Medicine
• 2010-2018, Mayo Clinic, Associate Professor, Medicine
• 2005-2010, Mayo Clinic, Assistant Professor, Medicine
• 2000-2002, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Assistant Instructor, Medicine
• 1990-1994, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Senior Lecturer, Medicine
• 1989-1994, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Nephrology Consultant, Medicine