Kofi Mensah, MD, PhD

Dr Mensah is a graduate of the NIH medical-scientist training program (MSTP) at the University of Rochester where he received his PhD in immunology under the direction of Edward Schwarz, PhD and Christopher Ritchlin, MD. His dissertation looked at immune system regulation of osteoclastogenesis in the context of inflammatory arthritis. His research won first place out of over 1,500 submissions in the basic science research category at the 2006 American College of Physicians National Medical Student Abstract Competition. His dissertation received the Melville A. Hare Award for Distinction in Research (2009). He also had the honor of presenting his research at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting,the American Society for Clinical Investigation annual meeting, the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research annual meeting and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting. He is the co-inventor of a novel monoclonal antibody patented for use in the identification of osteoclast precursors. He has also done research under the mentorship of John Mudgett, PhD at Merck Research Laboratories, Steven Teitelbaum, MD and F. Patrick Ross, PhD at Washington University in St Louis, as well as Steven Goldring, MD, Edward Purdue, PhD, Lionel Ivashkiv, MD, and Joseph Lane, MD at Hospital for Special Surgery. Dr Mensah is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies. He has mentored high school, undergraduate, graduate and medical students. As part of his mentorship role, he has served as a judge for the New York City Science and Engineering Fair and the New England Science Symposium. He has also lectured for medical students and residents on the topic of immunology and musculoskeletal medicine topics. He received the Robert Leet Patterson and Clara Guthrie Patterson Trust Mentored Research Award to fund post-doctoral research with Eric Meffre, PhD on pathogenic roles of B cells in rheumatoid arthritis. He served on the Executive Council for the Yale Internal Medicine Residency Program and is on the Board of Directors of the American Physician Scientists Association.