Richard J. Quigg Jr., professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and former chief of its nephrology section, has been named the inaugural Arthur M. Morris Chair in Nephrology and chief of the Division of Nephrology in the Department of Medicine, UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The announcement was made by Anne B. Curtis, Charles and Mary Bauer Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine.

The primary focus of Quigg’s research laboratory is to identify pathogenic mechanisms that underlie kidney disease. He is nationally and internationally renowned for his research into diseases of the glomeruli. Glomerular diseases damage the glomeruli, clusters of blood vessels that filter blood in the kidneys, letting protein and sometimes red blood cells leaks into the urine, ultimately interfering with proper kidney function.

Quigg received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Boston University. He completed his medical residency at Stony Brook University, as well as research and clinical fellowships in nephrology at the Boston University Medical Center. He joined the University of Chicago in 1994 as an associate professor and was promoted to professor in 2001. Before joining the University of Chicago, he was an assistant professor at the Medical College of Virginia.