![[Akinlolu O. Ojo, MD, MPH, PhD, MBA]](https://deptmedicine.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/ojo_akinlolu-md_portrait-14_201507814_140x210px-96dpi_0.jpg "Akinlolu O. Ojo, MD, MPH, PhD, MBA")
Akinlolu O. Ojo, MD, MPH, PhD, MBA, an international leader in chronic kidney disease and kidney transplantation research and clinical care with a focus on health disparities and an expert in global health research, has been appointed associate vice president for clinical research and global health initiatives at the University of Arizona Health Sciences.
Dr. Ojo, who joined UAHS Jan. 18, also will serve as professor of medicine in the UA College of Medicine – Tucson with a joint appointment as professor of health promotion sciences in the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.
“I am extremely pleased to have Dr. Ojo, who brings extensive experience in the development and management of multicenter clinical trials, join the UA Health Sciences,” says Joe G.N. “Skip” Garcia, MD, UA senior vice president for health sciences and the Dr. Merlin K. DuVal Professor of Medicine. “He will lead our efforts to further develop clinical research programs focused on health outcomes, mechanisms of human disease, therapeutic interventions and the development of new health-care technologies. Dr. Ojo also will be instrumental in driving patient-oriented research and clinical trial collaborations across the UA Health Sciences in Tucson and the Phoenix Biomedical Campus,” Dr. Garcia added.
“The opportunities for clinical research and global health programs at the University of Arizona are vast and unmatched by most other academic health systems in the country with respect to the racial/ethnic and geographic diversity and profound cultural richness of the population we serve. I am delighted and privileged to be joining a first-class team of research scientists, outstanding clinicians and exceptional staff that already is in place at the UA Health Sciences,” says Dr. Ojo.
Prior to his appointment, Dr. Ojo was professor of medicine and the Florence E. Bingham Research Professor in Nephrology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he also was director of clinical and translational research in the Comprehensive Kidney Center, and director of the Department of Medicine Global Health Research and Training Programs. In addition, he was an attending physician with the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor.
![[Prabir Roy-Chaudhury, MD, PhD]](https://deptmedicine.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/roy-chaudhury_prabir_suit_2015_100x150px.jpg "Prabir Roy-Chaudhury, MD, PhD")
Prabir Roy-Chaudhury, MD, PhD, chief of the UA Division of Nephrology, was delighted with Dr. Ojo's arrival: "We absolutely consider it a huge honor and a privilege that Dr. Akinlolu Ojo is going to be joining the University of Arizona. Dr. Ojo will always have a home in Nephrology and my hope is that he considers this his primary home. Having said that, we’re really very excited about the many opportunities and all the potential that Dr. Ojo brings to the university and, as a nephrologist, to the Division of Nephrology. I think that his coming here is a huge plus with regard to the care of patients with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease within the Banner system, within Tucson and within the state of Arizona."
A colleague of Dr. Ojo's with nephrology-related national and international organizations, Dr. Roy-Chaudhury noted the groundbreaking research Dr. Ojo has done, particularly a Heredity and Health in Africa study funded by the UK's Welcome Trust and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Ojo’s research and clinical interests include chronic kidney disease and kidney transplantation and their complications, including cardiovascular disease; pharmacotherapy of hypertensive and diabetic renal disease; minority health and health disparities; global health (non-communicable diseases in low-resource settings); and global health capacity development. He has a particular clinical interest in chronic kidney disease in African Americans and blacks in developing nations.
Dr. Ojo maintains an active clinical and translational research program with substantial funding from the NIH. Currently, he is the principal investigator on five studies with grant funding totaling more than $25 million and has received more than $70 million in extramural funding at the University of Michigan. He has extensive experience in the development of patient-oriented clinical research networks and multicenter clinical trials, and has served on multiple clinical trial Data Safety Monitoring Boards and NIH study sections.
Dr. Ojo received his undergraduate degree and medical education from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He earned his Master of Public Health degree at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he then pursued post-doctoral fellowships in both public health sciences and public health. After an internship and a residency in internal medicine at the University of Kentucky Hospitals in Lexington, where he was chief resident, he completed a clinical fellowship in nephrology at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, where he also completed a research fellowship in nephrology while pursuing a doctorate in epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Dr. Ojo is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the Association of American Physicians (AAP) and the American Clinical and Climatological Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP). His professional memberships include the American College of Physicians, American Society of Hypertension, American Society of Nephrology, American Society of Public Health, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, American Society of Transplantation, International Society of Nephrology and The Transplantation Society.
He has authored or co-authored more than 170 peer-reviewed manuscripts, as well as numerous abstracts and book chapters. He serves as a reviewer for numerous professional journals and currently serves on the editorial board of Reviews on Clinical Transplantation. He also has served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Kidney Disease, Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, and Clinical Nephrology.
About the University of Arizona Health Sciences
The University of Arizona Health Sciences is the statewide leader in biomedical research and health professions training. The UA Health Sciences includes the UA Colleges of Medicine (Phoenix and Tucson), Nursing, Pharmacy and Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, with main campus locations in Tucson and the growing Phoenix Biomedical Campus in downtown Phoenix. From these vantage points, the UA Health Sciences reaches across the state of Arizona and the greater Southwest to provide cutting-edge health education, research, patient care and community outreach services. A major economic engine, the UA Health Sciences employs almost 5,000 people, has nearly 1,000 faculty members and garners more than $126 million in research grants and contracts annually. For more information: http://uahs.arizona.edu.
Media Contact: Jean Spinelli