Kenneth R. McLeish, M.D., FACP

Kenneth R. McLeish, M.D.

Kenneth R. McLeish, M.D., FACP

  • Professor of Medicine
VA Medical Center
800 Zorn Avenue
Louisville, KY 40206

502-852-5757 - Academic Office
502-287-4000 - VAMC


Clinical Expertise
Nephrology; Lupus Nephritis; Glomerulonephritis


Education and Training

  • Medical School: Indiana University
  • Residency: Indiana University Medical Center
  • Fellowship: Indiana University Medical Center

Featured Publications

  • McLeish KR, Fernandes MJ. Understanding inhibitory receptor function in neutrophils through the lens of CLEC12A. Immunol Rev. 2023 Mar;314(1):50-68. doi: 10.1111/imr.13174. Epub 2022 Nov 24. PMID: 36424898.
  • McLeish KR, Shrestha R, Vashishta A, Rane MJ, Barati MT, Brier ME, Lau MG, Hu X, Chen O, Wessel CR, Spalding T, Bush SE, Ijemere K, Hopkins CD, Cooke EA, Tandon S, Manning T, Uriarte SM, Huang J, Yan J. Differential Functional Responses of Neutrophil Subsets in Severe COVID-19 Patients. Front Immunol. 2022 May 31;13:879686. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.879686. PMID: 35711435; PMCID: PMC9197482.
  • Vitry J, Paré G, Murru A, Charest-Morin X, Maaroufi H, McLeish KR, Naccache PH, Fernandes MJ. Regulation of the Expression, Oligomerisation and Signaling of the Inhibitory Receptor CLEC12A by Cysteine Residues in the Stalk Region. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Sep 22;22(19):10207. doi: 10.3390/ijms221910207. PMID: 34638548; PMCID: PMC8508511.
  • Paré G, Vitry J, Merchant ML, Vaillancourt M, Murru A, Shen Y, Elowe S, Lahoud MH, Naccache PH, McLeish KR, Fernandes MJ. The Inhibitory Receptor CLEC12A Regulates PI3K-Akt Signaling to Inhibit Neutrophil Activation and Cytokine Release. Front Immunol. 2021 Jun 21;12:650808. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.650808. PMID: 34234773; PMCID: PMC8256872.
  • Morrissey SM, Geller AE, Hu X, Tieri D, Ding C, Klaes CK, Cooke EA, Woeste MR, Martin ZC, Chen O, Bush SE, Zhang HG, Cavallazzi R, Clifford SP, Chen J, Ghare S, Barve SS, Cai L, Kong M, Rouchka EC, McLeish KR, Uriarte SM, Watson CT, Huang J, Yan J. A specific low-density neutrophil population correlates with hypercoagulation and disease severity in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. JCI Insight. 2021 May 10;6(9):e148435. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.148435. PMID: 33986193; PMCID: PMC8262329.
  • Kolonics F, Kajdácsi E, Farkas VJ, Veres DS, Khamari D, Kittel Á, Merchant ML, McLeish KR, Lőrincz ÁM, Ligeti E. Neutrophils produce proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory extracellular vesicles depending on the environmental conditions. J Leukoc Biol. 2021 Apr;109(4):793-806. doi: 10.1002/JLB.3A0320-210R. Epub 2020 Sep 18. PMID: 32946637; PMCID: PMC8851677.
  • Caster DJ, Korte EA, Merchant ML, Klein JB, Barati MT, Joglekar A, Wilkey DW, Coventry S, Hata J, Rovin BH, Harley JB, Namjou-Khales B, McLeish KR, Powell DW. Patients with Proliferative Lupus Nephritis Have Autoantibodies That React to Moesin and Demonstrate Increased Glomerular Moesin Expression. J Clin Med. 2021 Feb 16;10(4):793. doi: 10.3390/jcm10040793. PMID: 33669337; PMCID: PMC7920286.
  • Merchant ML, Barati MT, Caster DJ, Hata JL, Hobeika L, Coventry S, Brier ME, Wilkey DW, Li M, Rood IM, Deegens JK, Wetzels JF, Larsen CP, Troost JP, Hodgin JB, Mariani LH, Kretzler M, Klein JB, McLeish KR. Proteomic Analysis Identifies Distinct Glomerular Extracellular Matrix in Collapsing Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2020 Aug;31(8):1883-1904. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2019070696. Epub 2020 Jun 19. PMID: 32561683; PMCID: PMC7460901.
  • Catz SD, McLeish KR. Therapeutic targeting of neutrophil exocytosis. J Leukoc Biol. 2020 Mar;107(3):393-408. doi: 10.1002/JLB.3RI0120-645R. Epub 2020 Jan 28. PMID: 31990103; PMCID: PMC7044074.
  • Singel KL, Emmons TR, Khan ANH, Mayor PC, Shen S, Wong JT, Morrell K, Eng KH, Mark J, Bankert RB, Matsuzaki J, Koya RC, Blom AM, McLeish KR, Qu J, Ram S, Moysich KB, Abrams SI, Odunsi K, Zsiros E, Segal BH. Mature neutrophils suppress T cell immunity in ovarian cancer microenvironment. JCI Insight. 2019 Mar 7;4(5):e122311. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.122311. PMID: 30730851; PMCID: PMC6483507.