Rexford S. Ahima

Rexford Ahima
Rexford Ahima
Born	Rexford Sefah Ahima; Accra, Ghana
Nationality	American-Ghanaian
Alma mater	Accra Academy (1976; 1978) University of London(B.Sc.,1981); University of Ghana(M.D.,1986); Tulane University(Ph.D,1992); Albert Einstein College of Medicine(1992-1995); Harvard University(1995-1998)
Awards	Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships (2016); Owl Club Teaching Award (Tulane University School of Medicine- 1989); Leo Davidoff Teaching Award (Albert Einstein College of Medicine- 1994).
	Scientific career
Fields	Medicine.
Institutions	Johns Hopkins University; University of Pennsylvania; Harvard University

Rexford Sefah Ahima is a Professor of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing; Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Diabetes at the Johns Hopkins Medical School; and the Director of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Ahima's research focuses on central and peripheral actions of adipocyte hormones in energy homeostasis, and glucose and lipid metabolism.[1][2] Ahima is the Editor In Chief of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.[3]

Biography

Rexford Ahima had his high school education at Accra Academy in Ghana. He gained a Bachelor of Science degree in Endocrinology from the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, University of London. He received his M.D. from the University of Ghana Medical School in 1986 and a Ph.D from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1992. Ahima had his residency training in Internal Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jack D. Weiler Hospital and Jacobi Medical Center in New York. Ahima did his clinical and research fellowship training in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

At Harvard, he had his research fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier, after which he served as an instructor in Medicine at Harvard before moving to the University of Pennsylvania in 1999. He became a tenured Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and was the Director of Obesity Unit, Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism and Director of Diabetes Research Center Mouse Phenotyping Core.

In 2016, Ahima joined Johns Hopkins University as a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Diabetes with appointments in the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, and Bloomberg School of Public Health. He was also appointed Leader of the Johns Hopkins University Diabetes Initiative and Director of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism.[2]

Awards and Distinctions

Ahima has been elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (2020);[4] American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI; elected 2005); Association of American Physicians (AAP; elected 2010);[3] Interurban Clinical Club; and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; American College of Physicians; and the Obesity Society. He is a past Associate Editor of the journals Gastroenterology; Molecular Endocrinology; and Endocrinology. He is currently Editor in Chief of the Journal of Clinical Investigation; Associate Editor of Endocrine Reviews; and Editor of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Year in Diabetes and Obesity.[5]

Research

Dr. Ahima’s laboratory investigates CNS and peripheral actions of adipokines in energy homeostasis, and glucose and lipid metabolism. He has performed seminal studies to define the roles of leptin, adiponectin and resistin in obesity and diabetes using genetic techniques and metabolic phenotyping of mouse models. Moreover, he is involved in clinical and population studies focusing on the pathogenesis of obesity and Diabetes.

Publications

Google Scholar Citations;

Pubmed

External links

Google Scholar Citations