Education

Division of Nephrology:
EDUCATION

The Division of Nephrology maintains a vigorous educational program that spans the spectrum from medical students to residents to fellows to continuing medical education for physicians. The division’s post-graduate fellowship program, where future leaders and researchers in nephrology are mentored and taught, is the centerpiece of these efforts. Dr. Kambiz Kalantari was appointed director of the fellowship program in July 2012 and is currently revamping it to incorporate changes in ACGME curriculum requirements.

Nephrology faculty members have received numerous teaching awards, including UVA’s Robley Dunglison Award and the American College of Physicians’ Evergreen Award (Mitchell Rosner). Educators from the division have played a leading role in developing the School of Medicine’s “NextGen” curriculum, and medical students have given the Nephrology section an “outstanding” rating. The fellowship program’s research component has been strengthened with the support of an NIH Training Grant

Four or five fellows are selected each year for one of these training pathways:

• Clinical pathway: two years of training at UVA Medical Center and affiliated centers, with the goal of producing highly accomplished leaders in clinical nephrology
• Clinical/research pathway: three or more years of training, including one year of clinical training and two or more years in clinical or laboratory research, for those wishing to pursue independent research careers
• Research pathway: for those with advanced degrees (MD and/or PhD) interested in pursuing additional training in either basic or clinical research; supported by a training grant from the National Institutes of Health

In addition, the division offers a two-year fellowship in transplant nephrology, accredited by the American Society of Transplantation. The transplant fellow during 2013-14 was Gabor Bodonyi-Kovacs.

Clinical Nephrology fellows for the 2013-2014 academic year were:

Second year

• Samir Gautam
• Daphne Harrington
• Sana Khan
• Hans Yehnert

First year

• Rohit Arora
• Atul Bali
• Mary Muoneke
• Helga Vamenta-Morris

Research fellows:

• Pei-Lun Chu (Le Lab; awarded American Society of Nephrology’s 2014 Ben J. Lipps Research Fellowship)
• Heather Perry (NIH T32)
• Isaah Vincent (NIH T32)

First-year fellow Mary Muoneke gave a poster presentation on “A Fulminant Case of Hypermagnesemia” at the American Society of Nephrology Annual Meeting in November 2013. First-year Nephrology fellow Helga Vamenta-Morris and second-year fellow Samir Gautam both presented posters at the National Kidney Foundation 2014 Spring Clinical Meetings in April 2014.

The National Young Investigators forum, hosted each year by the National Kidney Foundation as part of its Spring Clinical Meetings, provides an opportunity for students and fellows to present their research to a panel of nationally recognized investigators, as well as to their peers. Eric Mace, an undergraduate student in Mark Okusa’s lab, was awarded first prize in the “basic science” category at the Spring 2014 national forum in Las Vegas, Nevada. Marta Stremska, a student in Rahul Sharma’s lab, was awarded third place at the Mid-Atlantic Young Investigator’s Forum, and represented UVA in the national competition.

Division faculty provide continuing medical education content and other educational opportunities for professionals through a variety of venues, including:

• Renal Grand Rounds and Fellows conference: A weekly division conference that is broadcast to telemedicine affiliates in Lynchburg, Augusta, Salem and Culpeper
• Therapeutic Apheresis Academy: A two-and-a-half-day conference offered annually since 2008 and designed for physicians in nephrology and hematology, as well as other health care professionals.