ASN names recipients of mentorship, researcher awards
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Each year, the American Society of Nephrology recognizes midcareer nephrologists who have significantly impacted the nephrology field in five different categories.
This year, ASN awarded the Distinguished Mentor Award for mentoring and inspiring trainees and other nephrology professionals to Kerri L. Cavanaugh, MD, MHS, and Michelle Denburg, MD.
Cavanaugh, associate professor of medicine in Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s division of nephrology and hypertension and nephrologist at Tennessee Valley Healthcare System Veterans Affairs Medical Center, studies factors in how patients are informed on complex chronic disease. She has mentored nearly 30 students, residents and fellows now in academic faculty posts and was an associate director for a summer training research program.
Denburg, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine associate professor of pediatrics and epidemiology, director of research and attending physician in Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s nephrology division, and senior scholar in University of Pennsylvania’s center for clinical epidemiology and biostatistics, studies complications in childhood kidney disease, focusing on bone health and mineral metabolism. She has led multiple NIH-funded studies and is a co-principal investigator in the Chronic Kidney Disease Biomarkers Consortium; has mentored students and residents of many subspecialties; and won Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Carole Marcus Mid-Career Award to Promote Career Development and Mentoring in Pediatric Research.
The Distinguished Researcher Award was given to Jodie L. Babitt, MD, and Steven G. Coca, DO, MS, for their contributions to the advancement of nephrology.
Babitt, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of translational research in Massachusetts General Hospital’s nephrology division, established bone morphogenetic protein signaling pathways’ role in hepcidin expression in systemic iron homeostasis and created a new biologic and small molecule agents for anemia in CKD and other iron disorders. She leads an NIH-funded laboratory, is on International BioIron Society’s board of directors and co-chairs a committee updating guidelines for Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes.
Coca, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai associate professor of medicine, associate chair for clinical and translational research in Mount Sinai’s department of internal medicine and director of clinical research in Mount Sinai’s division of nephrology, primarily studies the role of blood and urine biomarkers in risk stratification in AKI and CKD and is a major advocator for bioprognostic testing in diabetic kidney disease. His research has also examined machine-learning techniques and multidimensional data acquisition. He is on three editorial boards and is an associate editor of Kidney360.