Noted Physician-Scientist Dr. Monica Kraft Appointed Chair of Department of Medicine at UA College of Medicine – Tucson

Dr. Monica KraftMonica Kraft, MD, an internationally renowned physician-scientist who specializes in translational asthma research, has been named chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. She is scheduled to begin her new duties at the UA in December.

Dr. Kraft will join the UA after serving as chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care and as the Charles C. Johnson, MD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Duke University. She also is director of the Duke Asthma, Allergy and Airway Center.  While at Duke, Dr. Kraft also served as the Department of Medicine’s vice chair for research from 2009 to 2013.  In this role she implemented several important initiatives to support the department’s research endeavors and, as co-principal investigator, was instrumental in the re-submission and renewal of Duke’s National Institutes of Health-funded Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA).

“We are thrilled that Monica Kraft will be joining the Arizona Health Sciences Center in a key leadership position within the College of Medicine, said Joe G.N. “Skip” Garcia, MD, UA senior vice president for health sciences and interim dean of the UA College of Medicine – Tucson.  “Dr. Kraft brings to the UA the perfect combination of skills to advance the clinical, research, and training missions of the Department of Medicine.  She is an award-winning physician and researcher with a strong track record in program development, mentorship and administration. We know our Department of Medicine, a critical department at any college of medicine, will be in extremely capable hands,” Dr. Garcia added.

"I have had the chance to work closely with Monica for the last six years as co-principal investigators of the AZ-Duke AsthmaNet Clinical Center,” said Fernando Martinez, MD, UA Regents Professor and director of both the UA BIO5 Institute and the University of Arizona Respiratory Center. “She is a pioneering scientist and the kind of energetic academic leader needed at times of great change, when challenges have to be addressed and opportunities capitalized on with courage and determination."

Dr. Kraft said, “It is a pleasure to be joining the UA faculty.  The University of Arizona is a world-class institution and I look forward to leading the evolution of the UA Department of Medicine, moving the academic and clinical missions forward and serving the people of Arizona.”

Prior to joining Duke in 2004, Dr. Kraft served as director of the Carl and Hazel Felt Laboratory in Adult Asthma Research and as medical director of the pulmonology physiology unit at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colo.

In addition to patient care and teaching, Dr. Kraft has more than 150 publications in the areas of adult asthma, the role of infection in asthma and the role of the distal lung in asthma and airway remodeling. Her work has appeared in such prestigious publications as the Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and Chest. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Lung Association.

Dr. Kraft received her Bachelor’s in chemistry from the University of California, Davis, and her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco. She served as chief resident at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

The UA Department of Medicine consists of 12 divisions and 100 faculty members. The department trains more than 100 residents in internal medicine, as well as fellows in all the medicine sub-specialties.

Dr. Kraft replaces Thomas Boyer, MD, who has served as head of the UA Department of Medicine since 2010; prior to that, he served as interim head since 2008. Dr. Boyer will continue his research, teaching and clinical activities, and will remain head of the college’s Liver Research Institute.

Media Contact: George Humphrey, MA

Release Date: 
08/12/2014 - 4:15am