Dr. Gaston, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Arkansas, received his MD degree from St. Louis University School of Medicine, and trained in medicine and nephrology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. The first fellow trained in Transplant Medicine at UAB, Dr. Gaston joined the faculty in 1990. Holding the Endowed Professorship in Transplant Nephrology, Gaston now serves as Interim Director of the Division of Nephrology (2013), Co-Director of the Comprehensive Transplant Institute (2011), and Medical Director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation (2003).
A prolific contributor to the scientific literature, Dr. Gaston serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Previously, he was an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Transplantation (2002-2006), and coedited (with Swedish transplant surgeon Jonas Wadstrom) the 2005 book “Living Donor Kidney Transplantation: Current Practices, Emerging Trends and Evolving Challenges." Dr. Gaston is a past president of the American Society of Transplantation.
Dr. Gaston believes that there are two major challenges in kidney transplantation: improving access for patients in need and improving long-term graft survival. His work focuses on drug development to address the latter. His career has been devoted to development and evaluation of novel immunosuppressants and their utility. These include daclizumab, Thymoglobulin, mycophenolate, belatacept, tofacitinib and sotrastaurin, among others. Assessing the impact of each of these novel therapies on renal allograft function has been an integral part of the challenge in developing them.