Enver Akalin, MD, FAST, FASN

Specialty: 
Transplant Nephrology
Graduated From: 
Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
Current Position: 
Medical Director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, Montefiore Medical Center; Director of Transplant Nephrology Fellowship, Professor of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Current Projects: 
I currently have 4 NIH grants as a site principal investigator, involved in multiple multicenter clinical trials. My main research focuses are:  investigating mechanisms of allograft injury using microarrays and biomarkers, molecular assessment of preimplantation biopsies, kidney transplantation in highly sensitized patients, and COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients. I have also been involved in Banff Allograft Pathology working groups to revise and define classifications.
What made you decide to work in transplantation?: 
I had decided to do nephrology fellowship during my residency just for transplantation. I have always been fascinated by immunology and transplantation.
What do you find to be the most valuable aspect of your work?: 
It is very rewarding to take care of transplant recipients as a transplant physician. Most patients are very happy, grateful, and feel like starting a new life after transplantation, and it is very exciting to observe their happiness and contribute to their wellbeing. I am also very excited to use new technologies like microarrays which give you new aspects and ideas in allograft injury
How have you served AST?: 
I received the Young Investigator Travel Award of the American Society of Transplant Physicians twice during my fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and received American Society of Transplant Physicians Council’s Faculty Grant in 2002 during my junior faculty years at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. These awards significantly helped me to advance my career as an academic transplant physician. I continued to serve the American Society of Transplantation. I served on the AST Clinical Trials Committee, and chaired the Transplantation and Immunology Research Network Clinical Science Grant Review Committee, the Transplant Nephrology Fellowship Accreditation Committee, the Fellow of American Society of Transplantation (FAST) Selection Committee, and chaired the governing board of the Transplant Nephrology Fellowship Training Accreditation Program. These positions helped me to interact with the transplant community. As a part of the Transplant Nephrology Fellowship Training Accreditation Program, I found it especially exciting and very informative to do transplant nephrology fellowship site visits and to meet with transplant faculty.
Fun Facts: 
I am originally from a city on the Mediterranean Sea in Turkey and I always loved to swim. I love modern dancing, ballet, and theater, and I am lucky to be in New York in this regard. I love to travel and explore new places.