The new faculty represent the pediatrics, nephrology, and musculoskeletal therapeutic areas.
The DCRI has hired three recent graduates of its fellowship program to continue working at the DCRI as full-time faculty. The new faculty represent three different therapeutic areas.
“We are proud to welcome these outstanding fellows from our most recent graduating class as new DCRI faculty colleagues,” said Matthew T. Roe, MD, MHS, faculty director for the DCRI Fellowship program. “The fact that they have chosen to continue their academic careers here showcases the DCRI’s mission of training the next generation of clinical researchers and highlights the future potential of the respective therapeutic areas within which each of these new faculty members will collaborate on research endeavors.”
Meet the new faculty members below.
Welcome to Karan Kumar, MD
Karan Kumar, MD, joined the DCRI as an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Duke University Medical Center Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine on July 1.
Kumar received his MD degree from Johns Hopkins University and his MS degree in Biostatistics from Duke University. Most recently, he served as both a fellow in pediatric critical care medicine at Duke University Medical Center and a clinical research fellow at the DCRI. Before coming to Duke, he completed his residency at Stanford, where he also worked as a clinical instructor in pediatrics.
As a new pediatrics faculty member, Kumar will help advance research that helps improve the care of the youngest and most vulnerable patients. In addition to pediatric critical care, his research interests include biostatistics, clinical research informatics, and machine learning. He has contributed to work published in journals including Immunity, The Journal of Pediatrics, and Pediatric Nephrology.
“Dr. Kumar’s addition to the pediatrics therapeutic area will continue to grow our faculty’s footprint at the DCRI and broaden the scope of our services and skills,” said the DCRI’s Christoph Hornik, MD, PhD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics. “Specifically, Dr. Kumar will bring immediate expertise in biostatistics and real world data analysis. His interest in machine learning and data management will be essential to the expansion of our group into the realm of real world evidence generation in support of pediatric drug and device development.”
During his time so far at Duke, Kumar has served as a mentor and statistician for the Duke STAR program, been recognized as a Duke Pediatric Research Scholar, and most recently received the Michael M. Frank teaching award given to the fellow most influential in the training of pediatric residents.
Welcome to Daniel Edmonston, MD
Daniel Edmonston, MD, joined the DCRI as a medical instructor in the Duke University Division of Nephrology on July 1.
Edmonston received his MD degree from the Mercer University School of Medicine. Most recently, he served as both a fellow in nephrology at Duke University Medical Center and a clinical research fellow at the DCRI. He completed his residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical College.
Edmonston’s research interests include cardiovascular disease in persons with kidney disease including pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, and atherosclerotic disease. He will conduct research across the nephrology and cardiovascular therapeutic areas and support bidirectional enrichment of kidney and cardiovascular trials. His work has been published in journals including Kidney International, American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Clinical Journal of American Society of Nephrology, and the American Heart Journal. He has also collaborated on work published in Clinical Cardiology and Journal of American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure.
“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Edmonston, who has already made impressive contributions to the Division of Nephrology through his work as a DCRI clinical research fellow,” said Myles Wolf, MD, interim director of DCRI Nephrology. “Because his research interests lie in the intersection of nephrology and cardiovascular disease, we look forward to not only his help in advancing research on kidney disease, but also his support of continued collaborations between the nephrology and cardiovascular therapeutic areas.”
During his time at Duke so far, Edmonston has served as a post-doctoral research fellow with Duke’s American Heart Association Strategically Focused Research Network grant. He was also recently awarded second place in the 2019 National Kidney Foundation Young Investigators’ Forum.
Welcome to Trevor Lentz, PT, PhD, MPH
Trevor Lentz, PT, PhD, MPH, joined the DCRI as an assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery on July 1.
Lentz received both his MPH degree in health policy and management and his PhD degree in rehabilitation science from the University of Florida in Gainesville. Most recently, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in musculoskeletal research at the DCRI.
During his time as a DCRI fellow, Lentz acted as both co-chief fellow and as the lead fellow at a DCRI think tank on “Emerging Techniques for Monitoring and Analyzing Data in Pragmatic Streamlined Trials.” He also gave a presentation to Duke’s Doctor of Physical Therapy students on “Using Data Analytics to Drive Value-Based Care.”
Lentz’s research focuses on identifying individual and health care system-level factors that influence patient-reported outcomes, health care utilization, and costs related to the treatment of musculoskeletal pain.
“The musculoskeletal therapeutic area (aka Duke MSK) is excited to welcome Dr. Lentz as DCRI faculty,” said Steven George, PhD, PT, director of musculoskeletal research at the DCRI. “He joins our research team that is working toward discoveries to reduce the impact of musculoskeletal pain on health, physical function, and quality of life. Dr. Lentz will add to our existing team in several key areas: working in health services research and conducting pragmatic trials; building interdisciplinary collaborations to facilitate use of real-world data for improving clinical outcomes; and working with health policy experts to inform policy guidance that facilitates value-based management of surgical and non-surgical musculoskeletal conditions.”
Lentz’s published work includes appearances in the Journal of Pain and American Journal of Sports Medicine. He serves on the international editorial review board for the Journal of Orthopaedics and Sports Physical Therapy and as an associate editor for the British Journal of Sports Medicine.