Vicente Torres, M.D., Ph.D., receives Distinguished Alumni Award
Professor of medicine and Robert M. and Billie J. Pirnie Professor of Kidney Disease Research in Honor of Michael J. Krowka, M.D.
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
Rochester, Minnesota
Mayo Clinic in Minnesota: Robert M. and Billie J. Pirnie Professor of Kidney Disease Research in Honor of Michael J. Krowka, M.D., 2018–present; professor of medicine, 1991–present; consultant, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, 1980–present; associate director, Mayo Translational Polycystic Kidney Disease Center (MTPC), 2022–2024; director, MTPC, 2010–2021; program director, Kidney Disease Research Training Grant, 2002–2010; chair, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, 2004–2009; chair, Division of Nephrology, 1998–2004, associate professor of medicine, 1984–1991; assistant professor of medicine, 1980–1984; associate consultant, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, 1979–1980
Fellowships: Nephrology, Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, Rochester, Minnesota; Nephrology, Hospital Clínic i Provincial de Barcelona Faculty of Medicine, Barcelona, Spain
Residencies: Nephrology, internal medicine, Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education
Internship: Internal medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Medical school: University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Postgraduate: Ph.D., nephrology and hypertension, University of Barcelona
Hometown: Palma de Mallorca, Spain
FOUNDING FIGURE IN POLYCYSTIC KIDNEY DISEASE
Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) commonly results in loss of kidney function and the need for dialysis or transplant. But when Vicente Torres, M.D., Ph.D. (I ’77, NEPH ’79), started his work in the field in the 1980s, there were no PKD-specific therapies.
His research efforts over the subsequent decades have changed clinical care, culminating with his leadership of clinical trials that have led to the first and only specific treatment for autosomal dominant PKD (ADPKD).
Dr. Torres is a consultant in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He is also a professor of medicine and the Robert M. and Billie J. Pirnie Professor of Kidney Disease Research in Honor of Michael J. Krowka, M.D. Dr. Torres is a world leader in nephrology and a founding figure in the research of PKD.
Dr. Torres has published extensively on a multitude of topics, including the epidemiology, phenotypic characterization, natural history and clinical management of PKD and related diseases, with more than 400 peer-reviewed publications and nearly 34,000 citations. His basic and translational research programs are supported by major grants, and he led a PKD research effort at Mayo Clinic that was recognized by a National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases grant to fund the Mayo Translational PKD Center in 2010.
Dr. Torres is a principal investigator for the National Institutes of Health-funded Consortium for Radiologic Imaging Studies of Polycystic Kidney Diseases (CRISP) study and the completed HALT-PKD clinical trial. He also led industry-funded clinical trials of vasopressin V2 receptor antagonists, which led to the clinical development of tolvaptan for ADPKD, the first internationally approved drug for this disease. Today, tolvaptan is routinely used around the world in select ADPKD patients to slow disease progression.
During his tenure as chair of the Division of Nephrology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, he revitalized the division and oversaw its merger with the Division of Hypertension. He has co-organized several conferences, including the first Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Controversies Conference on ADPKD in 2014, and he co-led the development of the KDIGO 2025 ADPKD clinical practice guideline.
In 2019, Dr. Torres received the American Society of Nephrology John P. Peters Award, considered among the most prestigious in nephrology. He is also the recipient of the esteemed Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize for Advancement in the Understanding of Polycystic Kidney Disease.
The Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumni Award was established in 1981 by the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees to acknowledge and show appreciation for the exceptional contributions of Mayo alumni to the field of medicine, including medical practice, research, education, and administration. Individuals receiving this award are recognized nationally — and often internationally — in their fields. Read about the other 2025 recipients here.