Modifiers of Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and Chronic Kidney Disease Outcomes in Black Americans: The Jackson Heart Study Supplemental File

I am a quantitative epidemiologist with methodological expertise in the design and analysis of observational studies that leverage data from cohort studies, registries, and the electronic health record (EHR). My background, training, and research is in the measurement and characterization of biomarkers, risk factors and treatment outcomes for chronic disease using real-world datasets. My primary research interests are in the use of novel sources of data, including the EHR, to conduct chronic disease research at the intersection of informatics, biostatistics, and epidemiology. My ongoing work aims to integrate informatics, epidemiology, and biostatistics to reduce the burden of chronic disease. I have topical expertise in multiple chronic diseases, including oncology, cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease. In parallel, I have a portfolio of research that aims to understand the impact of social determinants of health, including dynamic neighborhood changes, such as gentrification, on the health of adults and children. 

Dr. Pendergast is a senior faculty member in the Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, with specialized expertise in multivariate and longitudinal data.  Before coming to Duke, she was a Statistics/Biostatistics faculty member at the Universities of Florida and Iowa.  Her primary collaborations at Duke are with members of the Division of General Internal Medicine and the Aging Center.

The focus of my research is disordered mineral metabolism across the spectrum of chronic kidney disease, including dialysis, kidney transplantation and earlier stages.

My research has been published in leading general medicine and subspecialty journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Circulation, Cell Metabolism, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, and Kidney International, among others.

My primary contributions have been in the area of hormonal regulation of phosphate homeostasis. I have helped to characterize the physiological role of fibroblast growth factor 23 in health and in chronic kidney disease, and the impact of elevated fibroblast growth factor 23 levels on adverse clinical outcomes in patients with kidney disease.

Dr. Boulware is a general internist, physician-scientist and clinical epidemiologist focused on improving health and health equity for individuals and communities affected by chronic health conditions such as kidney disease. A national thought leader in health equity, she has identified patient, clinician, system, and community-level barriers that result in disparate outcomes for Black and other marginalized individuals. Using pragmatic trials, she has developed successful interventions, shaped guidelines, raised physician awareness and changed clinical practice.  Throughout her work, Dr. Boulware has sought to improve transparency and trustworthiness in science and medicine. 

Her research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes for Health, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and other organizations throughout her career. She has published over 200 manuscripts, book chapters, and editorials, and she mentors numerous students, residents, fellows, and faculty members.  Dr. Boulware is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

PubMed Listing Here (Link)

Education

• A.B. Vassar College, 1991
• M.D. Duke University, 1995
• M.P.H. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 1999

Dr. Scialla is an Associate Professor of Medicine in Nephrology at Duke University and a faculty member at the Duke Clinical Research Institute.  Dr. Scialla trained in Internal Medicine, Nephrology, and Clinical Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  Her research focuses on chronic kidney disease (CKD) epidemiology and prevention, with an emphasis on the role of metabolic complications and nutrition. Current studies are focused on treatment and prevention of abnormal phosphate homeostasis, acid-base physiology, diabetic and other forms of kidney disease, and outcomes in end-stage kidney disease. 

Dr. Scialla’s work engages a number of study designs including prospective cohort studies, observational comparative effectiveness studies, and patient-oriented physiologic studies. She has worked closely with multiple chronic disease cohorts including the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study, the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK), the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), and secondary analyses in clinical trials. Studies in electronic health records (EHR) and registries have engaged dialysis EHR data, the United States Renal Data System, and public registries, such as the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Physiologic studies include the Acid Base Complication in CKD Study, secondary analyses in the DASH Mechanism Study, and the newly launched MURDOCK Kidney Health Study.