After pediatric nephrology training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, I joined the faculty at Indiana University School of Medicine. I started the Pediatric Kidney Transplant program at Riley Hospital for Children and have been the Medical Director of Pediatric Kidney Transplantation. I am currently a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics. My academic focus has been on vaccinations, reproductive health, transition of care and quality of life.
In the area of vaccinations, I have studied immune responses to influenza, Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and Hepatitis B vaccines in pediatric kidney transplant recipients. I have conducted multicenter studies, presented at national and international meetings, and shared this new knowledge via several publications. I have published transplant related work in many journals including Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Pediatric Nephrology and Frontiers in Pediatrics.
My HPV vaccination multicenter study in kidney transplant recipients allowed me to define the critical role that this vaccine can play in improving reproductive health and in preventing HPV-related malignancies. I also recognized that our adolescent and young adult patients are at risk for certain unique comorbidities such as HPV-related disease later in life and that prevention efforts should start early. In addition, this work became the inspiration to develop a complex and innovative experimental transition system for adolescent and young adult kidney transplant recipients involving experts from pediatric nephrology, adolescent medicine and psychology.
I have been a member of AST’s PCOP since 2010 and of the IDCOP since 2017. Since 2018 I have been a member of the PCOP Educational Committee, which allowed me to participate in ATC Program Development and in developing educational materials for patients, families and primary care providers. Between 2024 and 2026 I was a Member-at-Large of the AST PCOP Executive Committee.
I have also been a member of Improving Renal Outcomes Collaborative (IROC) from its development. Since 2023 I have been the Chair of the Quality of Life Research Subcommittee within IROC.