Dr. Parekh is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Toronto, and based at Hospital for Sick Children and the University Health Network. She has 2 primary areas of focus including risk factors for progression to chronic kidney disease and sequelae of chronic kidney disease and end stage renal disease. Her research program includes a multidisciplinary team to study increased risk of cardiovascular disease, in particular sudden death, among dialysis patients using novel cardiac imaging and ECG techniques. In addition, Dr. Parekh studies risk factors contributing to progression of kidney disease. Her group has recently published a seminal paper on the association of a new gene, MYH9, with non diabetic end stage renal disease among African Americans. This novel genetic finding has the potential for screening high-risk individuals for kidney disease and also understanding potentially common pathways leading to kidney failure.

Dr. Parekh is a Trustee of the American Kidney Fund (AKF) and a former AKF Amgen Clinical Scholar.  She currently serves as Chair of Medical Affairs and the Medical Advisory Committee and is Co-Chair of the Clinical Scientist in Nephrology Committee of the American Kidney Fund.