Titilayo Ilori, MD, MSc

Assistant Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

My various experiences and training have resulted in a strong desire to improve outcomes and survival of individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD), particularly in disadvantaged populations. I am interested in the effect of diet and lifestyle in the development and progression of CKD and ApolipoproteinL1 Nephropathy. I started in research as a research assistant in the United Kingdom where I learned the fundamentals of population-based research in nutritional epidemiology in the department of Public Health at the University of Manchester.

I then formal training in basic science during my nephrology fellowship at Emory University. There, I worked on a translational project looking at the role of calcineurin inhibitors in the phosphorylation of the urea transporter. I decided to pursue a clinical research career after my fellowship training and completed the Master of Science in Clinical Research degree at Emory in 2015. I am a co-investigator in the H3Africa Kidney Disease Research Network and this has equipped me with on-ground training of staff in Africa, protocol development and execution, and data management and analysis with the Bioinformatics Core. I was also a co-investigator in the All of Us Research Program (AoURP), a part of the NIH-supported Precision Medicine Initiative. I gained hands-on experience in building clinical research infrastructure and high-volume recruitment and enrollment in a large clinical research enterprise. I was the Associate Director of Clinical Research and Global Health Initiatives and played an integral role in recruiting >30,000 research participants for the AoURP recorded in a recent article in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science (PMID: 32004412).

I was awarded a K23 grant from the NIDDK in 2020 to study Diet, CKD and ApolipoproteinL1 Nephropathy (DK119542). I am looking at diet and CKD progression as well as gene x environment interactions in APOL1 nephropathy in sub-Saharan Africa. I have a commitment to mentoring and training in research. I have mentored three fellows one who is an Assistant Professor at Emory University and multiple masters’ level students.

Publications

  • Published 7/29/2025

    Khanna S, Cheung KL, Arora P, Irvin MR, Lange LA, Ilori T, Cushman M, Pampana A, Gutierrez OM. Association of Transthyretin Val122Ile Variant with Kidney Outcomes in Community-Dwelling Black Adults: The REGARDS Cohort. Kidney360. 2025 Jul 29. PMID: 40728881.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/23/2025

    Ojo AO, Adu D, Bramham K, Freedman BI, Gbadegesin RA, Ilori TO, Jefferson N, Olabisi OA, Susztak K, Young BA, Cheung M, King JM, Grams ME, Jadoul M, Ulasi II. APOL1 kidney disease: conclusions from a Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Controversies Conference. Kidney Int. 2025 Jun 23. PMID: 40582702.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/14/2025

    Peschard VG, Scherzer R, Estrella MM, Sarnak MJ, Ascher SB, Lash J, Bonventre JV, Greenberg JH, Gutierrez OM, Schelling JR, Katz R, Cheung KL, Levitan EB, Schrauben SJ, Cushman M, Ilori TO, Parikh CR, Kimmel PL, Rao PS, Taliercio JJ, Sondheimer J, Shulman R, Coca SG, Chen J, Ramachandran VS, Ix JH, Shlipak MG. Defining Kidney Health Dimensions and Their Associations with Adverse Outcomes in Persons with Diabetes and CKD. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2025 May 01; 20(5):665-675. PMID: 40085155.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 10/26/2024

    Gbadegesin RA, Ulasi I, Ajayi S, Raji Y, Olanrewaju T, Osafo C, Ademola AD, Asinobi A, Winkler CA, Burke D, Arogundade F, Ekem I, Plange-Rhule J, Mamven M, Matekole M, Amodu O, Cooper R, Antwi S, Adeyemo AA, Ilori TO, Adabayeri V, Nyarko A, Ghansah A, Amira T, Solarin A, Awobusuyi O, Kimmel PL, Brosius FC, Makusidi M, Odenigbo U, Kretzler M, Hodgin JB, Pollak MR, Boima V, Freedman BI, Palmer ND, Collins B, Phadnis M, Smith J, Agwai CI, Okoye O, Abdu A, Wilson J, Williams W, Salako BL, Parekh RS, Tayo B, Adu D, Ojo A. APOL1 Bi- and Monoallelic Variants and Chronic Kidney Disease in West Africans. N Engl J Med. 2025 Jan 16; 392(3):228-238. PMID: 39465900.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/10/2023

    Hong X, Rosenberg AZ, Heymann J, Yoshida T, Waikar SS, Ilori TO, Wang G, Rebuck H, Pearson C, Wang MC, Winkler CA, Kopp JB, Wang X. Joint Associations of Pregnancy Complications and Postpartum Maternal Renal Biomarkers With Severe Cardiovascular Morbidities: A US Racially and Ethnically Diverse Prospective Birth Cohort Study. J Am Heart Assoc. 2023 Nov 21; 12(22):e029311. PMID: 37947096.

    Read at: PubMed

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Websites

Education

  • University of Lagos, MBBS
  • Emory University, MSc

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