MAKOTO KURO-O is an Associate Professor in the Pathology Department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UT Southwestern). He also has an appointment to the Pak Center for Mineral Metabolism and the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center in UT Southwestern. He received his MD and PhD from the University of Tokyo, Japan. His major research interests include molecular mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases with special reference to chronic kidney disease. He is a member of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN).