UAB Synopsis, Vol. 27, No. 34, September 15, 2008

UAB’s Division of Nephrology is becoming a significant presence in basic and translational research activities under the guidance of Anupam Agarwal, MD, professor of medicine, who became division director in January. He succeeded David G. Warnock, MD.

Dr. Agarwal has put together a solid research faculty and enhanced resources. The effort helped win a recent NIH O’Brien Core Center award.

Dr. Agarwal has made seminal contributions to research on the role of multiple pathways, including oxidant stress, in acute kidney injury (AKI) and has become an administrative and collaborative force for research within the UAB community, Professor of Medicine and Spencer Chair in Medical Science Leadership, Department of Medicine, Edward Abraham, MD, says. Dr. Agarwal has chaired the department’s Research Development Group.

Dr. Agarwal is deeply involved in basic research, with an emphasis on the role of heme oxygenase in mitigating acute renal injury. Widely published in top journals, he holds three NIH RO1 grants. Previously on the faculty of the University of Florida in Gainesville, he was recruited to UAB in November 2003 by Dr. Warnock to be director of research and of the Nephrology Research and Training Center (NRTC). The NRTC, a pilot center, is applying for status as a university center.

“With tremendous institutional support, our division is making significant progress in recruiting top scientists,” he says. “UAB IMPACT [Investment Pool for Action] funds were important components of our recruitment efforts. In addition, the university’s concept of collaborating centers and the recent funding of the Diabetes Research and Training Center and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science played a significant role.”

The number of faculty has increased from 26 to 31, and research funding has increased more than 25% in the first year of Dr. Agarwal’s 5-year plan.

Nephrology Giants

A factor in successful recruitment includes the extensive clinical program built by a succession of nephrology giants who provided key leadership in concert with colleagues in the Department of Surgery, Dr. Agarwal says.

Thomas E. Andreoli, MD, now at the University of Arkansas, was a leading name in kidney disease and treatment as division and NRTC director from 1970 to 1979. Another former division director, Robin Luke, MD, successfully garnered an O’Brien center for UAB in the 1980s before moving on to the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Warnock led the Division of Nephrology to new heights in dialysis and transplantation in his 20 years as division director, before stepping down on January 1.

Among new faculty recruits are:

• Professor of Medicine and Surgery Roslyn B. Mannon, MD. Educated and trained at Duke University, Dr. Mannon joined the nephrology division as director of transplantation research after several years as medical director of transplantation at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The translational researcher’s interests include chronic allograft ne-phropathy, especially the role of BK polyomavirus infection;

• Associate Professor of Medicine Edgar Jaimes, MD. Previously on the faculty of the universities of Minnesota and Miami, Dr. Jaimes works primarily at the Birmingham VA Medical Center;

• Assistant Professor Hasan Kamash, MD, trained in transplant nephrology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, was on the faculty of Kirksville School of Osteopathic Medicine as well as in private practice in Missouri;

• Assistant Professor Dana Rizk, MD. Formerly of Emory University School of Medicine and the Atlanta VA Medical Center, Dr. Rizk performs research that focuses on autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease; and

• Assistant Professor Sandra Malakauskas, MD, PhD. Educated at California Institute of Technology and the University of California at San Francisco, Dr. Malakauskas was recruited by several top institutions following internal medicine and nephrology training at Duke University School of Medicine.

The nephrology division is active in all areas of education: Assistant Professor Ivan D. Maya, MD, is an integral member of the School of Medicine’s core curriculum as co-course director of the renal module, and Associate Professor Ashita J. Tolwani, MD, MSc, directs the fellowship program.

Developing Careers

Dr. Agarwal places much emphasis on recruiting young trainees and junior faculty with research interests. “We are seeing more fellows who want to stay in academic medicine. This is our next generation of researchers, and if we don’t cultivate them, our grant support will go down,” he says. Mentors guide trainees into productive grant-supported careers to help build the division’s research portfolio.

Dr. Warnock continues on the faculty and as associate director of program development for the division, with a goal of increasing its endowments. A fundraising dinner is planned for October 6. Dr. Warnock also is the director of UAB’s Office of Human Research.