About Us

Randolph Chen, MD, is a board-certified nephrologist who has been in practice for more than 20 years. At his practice in Burlingame, California, Dr. Chen focuses on providing patients with comprehensive kidney care. 

Dr. Chen completed his bachelor’s degree in biology and psycholoy at the University of California, Irvine, in Irvine, California in 1995. He graduated cum laude and received honors for his work in experimental psychology. 

In 1999, Dr. Chen earned his medical doctorate with honors from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

After graduation, Dr. Chen completed his internal medicine internship and residency at the prestigious UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, before returning there to finish his nephrology fellowship in 2005.

At his Burlingame practice, Dr. Chen identifies and treats a wide range of conditions that affect kidney function, including chronic kidney disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), acid base and electrolyte disorders, kidney stones, and bone and mineral disorders.  One of his goals is to keep his patients’ kidneys in healthy function to avoid dialysis.

If patients do need dialysis, Dr. Chen partners with several nearby hospitals and medical centers, including Satellite Healthcare, to deliver expert care for patients requiring dialysis.

Dr. Chen understands the effects kidney damage can have on patients and families.  He treats his patients and their loved ones with the utmost compassion and makes sure the treatment process is collaborative.

As a leader in the field of nephrology, Dr. Chen has won several awards and remains active in a variety of leadership roles.  He serves as medical director, medical consultant  and board member in different healthcare organizations.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Chen, ask for  a referral or call today!

Darlene Drechsler-Fernandez, RN, MSN, NP-C is a nationally board-certified nurse practitioner specializing in the care of persons with kidney disease. She has been a registered nurse for 45 years beginning in 1977. 

Over the years, Darlene has accrued vast experience in managing patient with kidney disease. She was dialysis clinic manager at the Mills Memorial Hospital in San Mateo, CA.  She has held positions at UCSF with the combined pancreas and kidney transplant program, in the pharmaceutical industry, at the Kaiser nephrology clinic in Honolulu and in the kidney transplant clinic at Kaiser San Francisco as a nurse practitioner. 

She is very proud to have received several honors and awards throughout the years. One of the most meaningful was being named The Professional Volunteer of the Year by the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii in 2008. She helped patients to learn about kidney disease and todetermine if they were at risk for CKD thereby facilitating early recognition and appropriate intervention with the hope of delaying the need for dialysis and/or transplant.

She met Dr. Chen in 2005 while they were both working at Kaiser Moanalua in Honolulu, HI in the nephrology department. She was a registered nurse at the time having received her Master’s degree in Nursing with a minor in Education at The University of California San Francisco in 1998. In Hawaii, she decided to pursue the additional training to become a nurse practitioner. She graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with honors in 2006. Dr. Chen encouraged her and was a mentor as she completed the clinical requirements which included course work and hours under preceptorship in the kidney clinic. She likes to say the Dr. Chen seriously” taught her everything she knows about the care of nephrology patients”. 

In Dr. Chen's Nephrology Practice, Darlene’s goal is to work in concert with Dr. Chen to help patients understand their plan of care, the effect of medications that they take, and to avoid the need for replacement therapies for kidney function.