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Dashboard Members Alessia Fornoni , MD, Ph.D.
Dr. Alessia Fornoni , MD, Ph.D.
Katz Professor of Medicine
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Discipline: Medicine
Profile
Dr. Fornoni is tenured Professor of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She serves as and Director and Chair of the Peggy and Harold Katz Drug Discovery Center. She is also the Co-Director of the MSTP program and of the CTSI/KL2 and Mentoring program, and serves as the Assistant Dean for Research Training and Development. In 2013, Dr. Fornoni gained experience in drug development as Global Head of Discovery in Cardiovascular and Metabolism at Hoffman-La Roche in Basel, CH. She funded several start up companies focused on finding a cure for patients affected by chronic kidney diseases.
As a physician-scientist who has maintained a resolutely focused research program that has provided novel and seminal contributions to our understanding of the pathogenesis of kidney disease, her research is supported by grants from National Institutes of Health, industry, and private foundations. She has received prestigious awards: among them, she became a member of ASCI in 2017 and of AAP in 2021. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Investigation and Kidney International. She is deputy editor of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. She was visiting professor at more than 50 academic institutions and international meetings worldwide. She serves as grant reviewer for NIH, DOD, ADA, AHA, UK-diabetes, NephCure and Alport foundations, Cariplo foundation and the Italian Ministry of Health among others. She served on the advisory board of more than 20 companies and two patients foundations (Nephcure Kidney International and Alport Syndrome Foundation). Her contributions have been published in high impact journals: JCI, NEJM, Nature Medicine, Cell Metabolism, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Communication, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Diabetes among others. Her H index is 45.
She successfully trained several graduate students and post-doctoral fellows from around the globe, and was recipient of the best graduate school mentor of the year award in 2016, the Provost Scholar Award in 2018, the best faculty mentor in the Department of Medicine 2019, the Andrew Schally Research award in 2019, the WIAM Leadership Award in 2019, the Barkin/Roger Outstanding Mentor Award in 2020. Her trainees are occupying key academic and industry positions in five different continents. In recognition of her effort to establish educational bridges between Italy and the USA, she was recognized as a knight of the star of Italy in 2018 by the Italian President.
Through her pioneering work on insulin signaling, cholesterol metabolism and sphingolipid-related pathways, Dr. Fornoni uncovered novel pathogenetic mechanisms and therapeutic approaches for glomerular disorders. Her internationally recognized research findings, which are now being translated into humans with novel therapeutic applications, have challenged existing paradigms and have dramatically altered the research direction in these areas.
Moving forward, her vision is one that brings industry, investors and not for profit organizations around the table with the intent to match science with innovation and patients’ motivation to find a cure for kidney diseases.
As a physician-scientist who has maintained a resolutely focused research program that has provided novel and seminal contributions to our understanding of the pathogenesis of kidney disease, her research is supported by grants from National Institutes of Health, industry, and private foundations. She has received prestigious awards: among them, she became a member of ASCI in 2017 and of AAP in 2021. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Investigation and Kidney International. She is deputy editor of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. She was visiting professor at more than 50 academic institutions and international meetings worldwide. She serves as grant reviewer for NIH, DOD, ADA, AHA, UK-diabetes, NephCure and Alport foundations, Cariplo foundation and the Italian Ministry of Health among others. She served on the advisory board of more than 20 companies and two patients foundations (Nephcure Kidney International and Alport Syndrome Foundation). Her contributions have been published in high impact journals: JCI, NEJM, Nature Medicine, Cell Metabolism, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Communication, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Diabetes among others. Her H index is 45.
She successfully trained several graduate students and post-doctoral fellows from around the globe, and was recipient of the best graduate school mentor of the year award in 2016, the Provost Scholar Award in 2018, the best faculty mentor in the Department of Medicine 2019, the Andrew Schally Research award in 2019, the WIAM Leadership Award in 2019, the Barkin/Roger Outstanding Mentor Award in 2020. Her trainees are occupying key academic and industry positions in five different continents. In recognition of her effort to establish educational bridges between Italy and the USA, she was recognized as a knight of the star of Italy in 2018 by the Italian President.
Through her pioneering work on insulin signaling, cholesterol metabolism and sphingolipid-related pathways, Dr. Fornoni uncovered novel pathogenetic mechanisms and therapeutic approaches for glomerular disorders. Her internationally recognized research findings, which are now being translated into humans with novel therapeutic applications, have challenged existing paradigms and have dramatically altered the research direction in these areas.
Moving forward, her vision is one that brings industry, investors and not for profit organizations around the table with the intent to match science with innovation and patients’ motivation to find a cure for kidney diseases.