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Ali Abu-Alfa, MD, FASN, FAHA

Professor Adjunct
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Additional Titles

Chairperson and Professor, AUB-Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut

Director, AUB-Human Research Protection Program, American University of Beirut

Director, AUBMC-Research Affairs Office, American University of Beirut

About

Titles

Professor Adjunct

Positions outside Yale

Chairperson and Professor, AUB-Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut; Director, AUB-Human Research Protection Program, American University of Beirut; Director, AUBMC-Research Affairs Office, American University of Beirut

Biography

Dr Ali Abu-Alfa is a tenured Professor of Medicine, and Chairperson of the Department of Internal Medicine at the American University of Beirut (AUB). He is the Director for the Human Research Protection Program at AUB, and for Research Affairs at AUB Medical Center. He joined AUB in 2010 after spending 2 decades at the Yale School of Medicine and remains Professor Adjunct at Yale in the Section of Nephrology. He led the Division of Nephrology and Hypertesion at AUB from 2010 to 2023.

He earned his MD degree from AUB in 1985, completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern University in 1990 and a fellowship in Nephrology at Yale in 1993. He is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine-Nephrology, is a certified hypertension specialist (AHSCP) and a Fellow of the American Heart Association and member of its hypertension council.

Dr Abu-Alfa is the immediate past Chair of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN)-Middle East Regional Board. He assumed the role of Chair of ISN Renal Disaster Preparedness Working Group in April 2023. He is a former member of the ISN Dialysis and CME committees and had completed a 3-year term as member of the KDIGO Executive committee in Dec 2018. He is the immediate past-President of the Lebanese Society of Nephrology and Hypertension.

Dr Abu-Alfa has been a strong advocate for peritoneal dialysis (PD) for over 25 years. He has been involved in ISPD in leadership roles since 2008, first as co-Chair of the North American Chapter then as founding and current Chair of the Middle East Chapter, in addition to serving on its various committees over the years. Most recently, he was instrumental in helping put together the successful bid for ISPD 2024 congress to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sept 26-29), and is co-chair for the organizing committee and the scientific program committee.

In addition to his strong engagement in these regional and international nephrology circles, Dr Abu-Alfa continues to teach and mentor students, residents and fellows while pursuing his scientific interests in the areas of peritoneal dialysis, complex hypertension, chronic kidney disease, imaging issues in kidney patients including nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and use of gadolinium-based contrast agents. He is also very active in the sphere of research ethics, its regulatory and administrative frameworks, and protection of human subjects in research.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Trainee
Yale University (2004)
Auditor
Yale University (1996)
Clinical Fellow
Yale University (1993)
Resident
Northwestern University (1990)
Research Fellow
Northwestern University (1987)
Intern
American University of Beirut (1986)
BS
American University of Beirut, Mathematics (1985)
MD
American University of Beirut, Medicine (1985)

Board Certifications

  • Nephrology

    Certification Organization
    AB of Internal Medicine
    Latest Certification Date
    2015
    Original Certification Date
    1992

Research

Overview

I am primarily interested in improving the delivery and methods of peritoneal dialysis, as part of improving delivery of care and increasing accessibility to the therapy in both resource-rich and resource-limited settings. Use of PD in Lebanon is centralized through a unique setup with a private vendor, which may offer advantages but needs to be formally studies as to outcomes, cost, growth and satisfaction. A study is being launched soon having secured access to the rich dataset spanning over 2 decades from the vendor under AUB auspices and governance by its IRB. Findings should help guide advocacy efforts for PD on a larger scale especially in low-resource settings, Given that 15 million patients in need of kidney replacement therapy will not have access to it in 2030 worldwide, solutions such as cheaper PD has been a focus for both the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis and the International Society of Nephrology.

I have maintained a long-standing interest in optimizing the care of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) with particular focus on anemia management and CKD-MBD, and on the transition to the renal replacement therapy phase. Another long-standing interest has also been on Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents and their use in renal patients, focusing on risk reduction and updating policies, watching for any new adverse events now that Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis has essentially disappeared.

More recently, and with some funding becoming available, I rekindled our group's interest in studying glomerular diseases and the genetic basis for familial clustering we commonly seen in our practice at AUB, caring for patients from Lebanon as well as from surrounding countries with even higher consanguinity rates. A project has now moved to execution phase starting with establishment of a registry. A large number of biopsies have been sent to Yale for Electron Microscopy evaluation since 2012 which provide strong basis for diagnostic accuracy. Collaboration is planned with the Nephrology team at Yale as work progresses. Similar work was started for Polycystic Kidney Disease with an already launched prospective registry.

Finally, and with the clear benefit of using SGLT2 inhibitors in CKD, including in non-diabetic patients, a study is being readied to examine barriers to the use of this new class of medications, through AUBHealth-EPIC.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Chronic Kidney Disease-Mineral and Bone Disorder; Gadolinium; Hypertension; Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy; Peritoneal Dialysis

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Ali Abu-Alfa's published research.

Publications

2024

2023

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    American University of Beirut, Dean's Advisory Committee of the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center

  • activity

    Peritoneal Dialysis International

  • activity

    Peritoneal Dialysis International

  • activity

    Clinical Nephrology

  • activity

    New England Journal of Medicine

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