Dr. Dena Rifkin, MD
Not yet claimedNephrologist · Physician (MD)
La Jolla, CA
Dena Rifkin is a kidney doctor on the faculty at UC San Diego. Her work includes clinical research on kidney disease.
About Dr. Dena Rifkin, MD
Updated Sep 20, 2026 · next review Dec 19, 2026Dr. Dena E. Rifkin is a kidney specialist (nephrologist) in La Jolla and San Diego, California. She is a Professor of Clinical Medicine at UC San Diego and also serves as Associate Chief of Medicine at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. She sees patients at both UC San Diego and the VA hospital in San Diego.
She went to medical school at Yale, where she also did her internal medicine residency and chief residency, and completed her kidney (nephrology) fellowship at Tufts Medical Center. She is board certified in internal medicine and nephrology. She describes herself as a nephrologist and epidemiologist who treats sudden and long-term kidney disease, with research interests in aging, kidney disease, and medication use.
Much of her public record is academic. A research profile lists about 160 publications and roughly 5,900 citations, covering chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure, aging, kidney function tests (cystatin C compared with creatinine), and 24-hour blood pressure monitoring. She started and edited "In A Few Words," the narrative medicine feature of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, which she introduced in 2009 and edited for more than 10 years. A published disclosure lists her service on the American Board of Internal Medicine Nephrology Exam Committee and as a co-investigator at the US site of the EMPA-KIDNEY trial.
In CMS Open Payments data for 2021 through 2025, she has $0 in reported industry payments across 0 records. Industry payments to doctors are common and legal; in her case none were reported.
- UC San Diego professor
- Professor of Clinical Medicine at UC San Diego, and board certified in internal medicine and nephrology. nephrology.ucsd.edu
- VA leadership role
- Serves as Associate Chief of Medicine at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. nephrology.ucsd.edu
- Training at Yale and Tufts
- Medical degree, internal medicine residency, and chief residency at Yale; nephrology fellowship at Tufts Medical Center. nephrology.ucsd.edu
- Hospital affiliations
- Listed with UC San Diego Medical Center - Hillcrest and the Jennifer Moreno Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Diego. doximity.com
- Large research record
- A research profile lists about 160 publications and roughly 5,900 citations, with work on chronic kidney disease, hypertension, aging, and kidney function measurement. researchgate.net
- Journal editor
- Founding feature editor of "In A Few Words," the narrative medicine feature of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, which she introduced in 2009. ajkdblog.org
- Board exam committee and trial work
- A published disclosure reports service on the American Board of Internal Medicine Nephrology Exam Committee and a co-investigator role at the US site of the EMPA-KIDNEY trial. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Kidney research training grant
- Listed as leading the Training Core of the San Diego Regional Network Award for Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Research Training at UC San Diego, 2024-2029. doximity.com
- No industry payments reported
- CMS Open Payments shows $0 across 0 records for 2021 through 2025. openpaymentsdata.cms.gov
- California license listed active
- Directory listings show an active California medical license with an expiration date in 2027 and no board actions displayed. doctor.webmd.com
Worth knowing
- The research for this profile did not complete dedicated news-coverage and court or licensing database searches, so the absence of news items, lawsuits, or discipline is "not found in the searches performed" rather than a confirmed clean record. health.usnews.com
- License, affiliation, and practice details here come in part from directory sites (WebMD, Healthgrades, Doximity) that are self- or vendor-maintained; patients can confirm license status with the Medical Board of California and affiliations with UC San Diego Health. doctor.webmd.com
- No verified personal accounts were found on Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, or Threads, so there is little direct public communication from her outside peer-reviewed work. nephrology.ucsd.edu
Industry payments (CMS Open Payments)
Open the CMS recordFederal law requires drug and device companies to report what they pay clinicians: meals, travel, speaking, consulting, and research. Payments are common and legal; the point is that you can see them.
No general payments reported for this NPI from 2021 through 2025.
Sources: health.usnews.com · nephrology.ucsd.edu · profiles.ucsd.edu · vmrf.org · doximity.com · researchgate.net · healthgrades.com · doctor.webmd.com. Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.
Summary prepared with AI assistance from the public sources linked above, reviewed every three months. It is not a review, a rating, or an endorsement.
Practice location
UC San Diego Division of Nephrology
9500 Gilman Drive Va Medical Center
La Jolla, CA 92093
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