Understanding Your Lab Results

Dr. Dana Rizk, Medical Director for Clinical Trials at University of Alabama

Bio

Dr Dana Rizk is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She completed her residency, chief residency and fellowship at Emory University Hospital and later joined the UAB faculty as Assistant Professor in 2008.

Dr Rizk’s exposure to clinical research started during her fellowship and she fell in love with this career path. Beyond the science, clinical research opened her eyes to patients, families and volunteers’ dedication and commitment to the advancement of knowledge. Her current clinical and research interests revolve around glomerular diseases and, in particular IgA Nephropathy (IgAN). She is the principal investigator for several clinical trials and is part of several federally funded multi-disciplinary translational research projects focused on the pathogenesis of IgAN and the role of biomarkers.

About five years ago, Dr Rizk was appointed Director of Clinical Trials Research in the Division of Nephrology. She set out to re-organize the infrastructure and teamwork behind the clinical trials in her division. Her goal was to have clinical trials accessible to patients. She also wanted to streamline the submission and budget negotiation process to make it more efficient and successful. In doing so, she hoped to engage junior investigators and trainees and build future ambassadors in clinical research.

In 2020, she was appointed Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Administrative Office, which is part of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) at UAB. She was tasked to work with investigators on campus to grow the clinical trials portfolio. She is also in charge of the Clinical Investigator Training Program meant to introduce junior faculty and research fellows to clinical research and inform them of the role and responsibilities of a principal investigator. The course also raises their awareness of the many resources available to them on campus.

On the education side, Dr Rizk is involved in residents and fellows’ training. She serves on the clinical competency committees of both programs. She has mentored many trainees and has been the proud recipient of numerous teaching awards.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Understanding the laboratory tests for patients with IgA nephropathy.