Dean Mary E. Klotman, MD, and Vice Dean for Translational Sciences Ebony Boulware, MD, MPH, recently announced that Rasheed Gbadegesin, MD, MBBS, has been named associate dean for physician-scientist development and director of the Office of Physician-Scientist Development (OPSD), a centralized, school-wide initiative designed to support the training needs and early faculty transition of physician-scientists. Gbadegesin has served as the inaugural faculty director of OPSD since 2018.
In his role as associate dean and director, Gbadegesin will focus on the recruitment, retention and development of physician-scientists in the School of Medicine, in all departments, centers, and institutes. Under his direction, the OSPD will continue to facilitate a strategic plan for physician-scientist development growth areas and develop new initiatives related to research and training. In addition, he and his team will work to enhance collaboration of existing resources and programs at Duke and oversee institute-wide and national physician-scientist development awards housed at Duke.
Gbadegesin is a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Nephrology, professor of medicine, and a member of the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute. His research is focused on the molecular pathogenesis of nephrotic syndrome and other kidney diseases. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed original research papers and is the principal investigator (PI/MPI) on multiple NIH, industry, and foundation sponsored studies.
In addition to his scholarly activities, Gbadegesin is also focused on mentoring trainees and faculty, locally and nationally. He is the PI for the Duke Burroughs Wellcome Physician Scientist Institutional award, which provides support to address training gaps and increase the number of physicians conducting research. He is also director of the Duke Pediatric Research Scholars Program for Physician-Scientist Development (DPRS), which is dedicated to preparing burgeoning physician-scientists for careers in academic medicine, and co-director of the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) KL2 program, a mentored research career development program for junior faculty.