T35-SRTP Administration
Program Directors: James Lash, MD and Waddah Alrefai, MD
James Lash,
James Lash, MD is the Robert Wood Keeton Professor of Medicine at UIC and Chief of the Division of Nephrology. Dr. Lash’s research focuses on the epidemiology of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and interventional trials in the treatment of kidney disease. He has had continuous NIH funding as PI since 2001. He is the UIC Clinical Center PI for the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study and the UIC Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP) CKD Recruitment Site.
Dr. Lash is a deeply committed mentor with a strong record of mentoring medical students, pre- and postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty, many of whom have gone on to successful academic and research careers. In terms of medical student mentorship, he has successfully worked with first-year medical students supported by the UIC Craig Fellowship. Many of his students continued to be involved in research activities during medical school and were productive in terms of presentations at national scientific conferences and publications. He has been successful in recruiting and mentoring physician scientists and formerly held an NIDDK K24 Midcareer Investigator award for the maximal period of two cycles. He served as an MPI of an NHLBI T32 pre- and post-doctoral training grant, Training in CVD Epidemiology and Related Chronic Diseases in Minority Populations. Currently, he is an MPI for the U2C/TL1 Chicago KUH FORWARD.
Dr. Waddah A. Alrefai, MD
Waddah A. Alrefai, MD, is a Professor of Medicine and Director of Collaborative Research in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He has a strong track record as a well-funded basic scientist, a mentor, and an educator. Dr. Alrefai’s research focuses on investigating intestinal bile acid and cholesterol absorption with emphasis on understanding their roles in the maintenance of cholesterol homeostasis and in mediating gut-liver crosstalk. Specifically, his work is centered on studying the molecular regulation of the intestinal bile acid transporter ASBT and cholesterol transporter NPC1L1. For the past 17 years, Dr. Alrefai has been continuously funded by the NIH and VA. He is also a Research Career Scientist at the VA, which is a prestigious award for VA health researchers who are international leaders in their field.
In addition to having a strong track record, Dr. Alrefai plays a major role in medical student education. He is a member of the College of Medicine Curriculum-Phase 1 Chicago Faculty and the Co-Director of the Digestion and Homeostasis course. He has mentored summer research for several medical students and has served as a thesis supervisor for MD/PhD students.
SRTP Coordinator: Natalie Meza, MPH
SRTP Coordinator: Natalie Meza, MPH
Ms. Meza brings extensive experience as a research project manager and in the administration of training grants.