Dr. Robert Schrier is a nephrologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where he served as Chair of the Department of Medicine and Chief of the Kidney Division for more than 20 years. He is an expert in patient-oriented research on acute kidney injury, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, hypertension, and diabetic nephropathy. Dr. Schrier has authored over 1,000 papers and several books and has been continuously funded by the NIH for 45 years. In an interview with JCI Editor-at-Large Ushma Neill, Schrier discusses his love of sports, his studies in Germany as a Fulbright scholar, his decision to go to medical school, and his entry into research at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he became interested in kidney failure.