Faculty Members Promoted to Associate Professors
Congratulations to the following DOM faculty members that have recently been promoted to Associate Professors:
Vipul Chitalia, MED, Medicine (Nephrology), is an emerging national and international physician scientist in the field of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Focusing on cardiovascular manifestations in patients with CKD and using thrombosis as a disease model, he was the first to uncover the highly prothrombotic effect of some of the retained solutes in CKD patients. This work explained observations from several clinical trials that in the past had shown CKD as a strong and independent risk factor for thrombosis. These discoveries now have been developed into a ‘theranostic’ platform with a biomarker program and potential druggable therapeutic targets, which has attracted interest from the biotech industry. Dr. Chitalia serves as a scientific advisor to several leading biotech companies in the greater Boston area and also is an Associate Scientific Advisory Board Member of Science Translational Medicine, where his work has been lauded as “the most mechanistic contribution to the field of chronic kidney disease and vascular biology.”
Jean M. Francis, MED, Medicine (Nephrology), is a clinician educator and innovator. His work has led to improved care of patients with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) on a national level through the adoption in other institutions of a multidisciplinary team approach for management of patients with TMA, which he began at BMC. He has been invited to give more than 25 national and international lectures on TMA and TMA team building. His clinical innovation also is reflected by a collaborative effort between BMC and Brigham and Women’s Hospital to create a pancreas transplant program, for which he serves as medical director. Dr. Francis has been elected as one of 11 national representatives for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) Pancreas Transplantation Committee. He represents all pancreas and islet cells transplant programs in UNOS Region One (New England).
Craig Eric Gordon, MED, Medicine (Nephrology), is recognized as an international expert in the management of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Dr. Gordon has served as Associate Director of the Evidence Review Team for three clinical practice guidelines developed by Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO), the leading international organization for clinical practice guidelines in Nephrology, including an upcoming update to the KDIGO guidelines on HCV in patients with CKD. The KDIGO guidelines as well as publications and national/international presentations delivered by Dr. Gordon paved the way toward an increased awareness of the importance of HCV in CKD patients from a diagnostic, treatment and infection control perspective. Recently, Dr. Gordon served as guest editor of a supplemental issue of Hemodialysis International focused on HCV in CKD. Additionally, Dr. Gordon has worked in the area of procedural safety beginning with the development of the concept of a medical procedure service and later through publications identifying best practices in procedural safety for kidney biopsy and thoracentesis. He has lectured extensively related to procedural safety in various venues nationally.
Christopher Huang, MED, Medicine (Gastroenterology), is a clinician-educator with a special interest in endoscopy education and training, and expertise in performing advanced procedures such as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, endoscopic ultrasonography, endoscopic mucosal resection of premalignant tumors and stenting of malignant gastrointestinal strictures. His skill set allows him to provide a unique service to patients with oncologic, biliary or pancreatic disorders. Dr. Huang has made significant contributions toward improving the Fellowship Program’s endoscopy training curriculum by developing several endoscopy-related lectures, integrating simulation training and implementing tools for the evaluation of procedural competency
Matthew Jones, MED, Medicine (Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care), studies inflammatory responses to acute bacterial pneumonia. Dr. Jones is the director of the GMS PhD Program in Molecular and Translational Medicine and regularly mentors graduate students. He is a member of several institutional committees and a reviewer of several peer-reviewed journals in addition to being co-PI on an NIH R01 grant extending through 2022, and is co-I on six others (U01, R35, R56 and 3 R01s). Dr. Jones has given invited national and international presentations and has served as a member of multiple Department of Defense research review panels on respiratory health.
George James Murphy, MED, Medicine (Hematology & Medical Oncology), is an accomplished investigator, mentor and teacher. Dr. Murphy is one of the founding co-directors of the Boston University and Boston Medical Center’s Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM), which now houses 50 members and 100 affiliated faculty with sizable extramural funding. His research focuses on the creation and differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and their use in understanding both development and disease. His laboratory’s accomplishments include the generation of widely used protocols and platforms for the study of sickle cell anemia and hereditary amyloidosis. He also has pioneered methodologies for the large-scale production of blood cells from stem cells allowing for the first in human trials of iPSC-derived platelet transfusions. A sought-after speaker, Dr. Murphy plays a central role in the Hematology T32 Training Program, and is engaged in community outreach to inspire the next generation of scientists.
Allan Walkey, MED, Medicine (Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care), is a leading expert in the clinical impact of atrial fibrillation in sepsis. Dr. Walkey’s research seeks to improve processes and outcomes of critical care, reduce cardiovascular complications of sepsis, better account for patient goals in the delivery and evaluation of healthcare, and develop novel methods to compare outcomes in observational research. He has a demonstrated track record of high-impact research with >100 publications, many in top-tier journals such as JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Walkey also serves as co-Director of the Center of Implementation and Improvement Sciences, seeking to improve the rigor of efforts to translate research into practice.
Andrew A. Wilson, MED, Medicine (Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care), is a pulmonary and critical care clinician-scientist with long-standing focus on regenerative medicine and stem cell biology. His research seeks to advance the understanding of and treatment for genetic causes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the lung and liver diseases associated with the alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), largely through the platform of patient-derived stem cells. He has overseen the creation of and directs one of the world’s largest repositories of reprogrammable blood samples associated with highly characterized participants in the Framingham Heart Study. In addition to laboratory-based science, he also leads an epidemiological study to define the incidence of and risk factors for liver diseases associated with AATD. Dr. Wilson is the founding director of the Alpha-1 Center at BU and BMC, one of the largest clinical centers for patients with AATD in the region. Since 2008 he has supervised 19 trainees in one of the most demanding scientific laboratory disciplines.
Retrieved 5/16/18 from bumccorporatecomm@bu.edu.