A Message from the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division
Welcome to the Penn Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division!
We are committed to advancing health equity in kidney disease while fostering an inclusive, diverse, and anti-racist environment for trainees, patients, care partners, staff, and faculty. To accomplish these goals, we aim to:
- Provide high quality training in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
- Invest in the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities at all levels within the Division
- Leverage rigorous research methods to understand and address health inequities.
As part of our commitment towards advancing these goals, we are proud to be the first Renal Division to sponsor a Chief Fellow in DEI. Every year, a second-year fellow will be appointed to serve as a Chief Fellow who will work closely with the Director of DEI. They will receive structured mentorship and training in leadership and quality improvement/research methods to support 3 main roles:
- Co-develop and implement a DEI curriculum for fellows and residents (e.g., training on addressing systemic bias, implicit bias, and microaggressions; panel discussions with patients and fellows highlighting health inequities and strategies to address disparities),
- Conduct a quality improvement or research project to enhance DEI (e.g., developing and evaluating approaches to mitigating perceptions of racism among patients with kidney disease to improve patient-centered outcomes)
- Improve recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities (e.g., hosting drop-in “office hour” sessions for fellowship applicants)
If you are passionate about health equity and/or fostering an inclusive, diverse, and anti-racist environment, please know that we at the Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division value your interests and are dedicated to training the next generation of DEI leaders.
Sincerely,
Yuvaram Reddy, MBBS, MPH (he/him)
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division
A Message from the FY24 Chief Fellow for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division
I am Asheen Zariat, the 2023-2024 Chief Fellow for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Through my medical training in Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, and now Philadelphia, I have witnessed firsthand how our healthcare system underprioritizes Black, Hispanic, and other people of color. Through my Nephrology training, I have observed how kidney disease disproportionately affects these patient populations and the invisible hand of structural racism in continuing systems of oppression. These experiences have led me to pursue opportunities to improve equity in healthcare delivery.
As DEI Chief Fellow, I will work on projects that address disparities in CKD care, transplantation, and difficult transitions of care. I look forward to working with the kidney disease community to address issues that patients value in terms of improving culturally competent care. I will work to address the disproportionate representation of underrepresented individuals in nephrology by providing a place for discussion and support for fellowship applicants. I hope to offer discussion and education for fellows on how to address systemic disparities and how to combat the policies that uphold them. Through this position, I will also work with fellows in other divisions to collaborate on ways to build best practices to address inequities.
A Message from the former Chief Fellow for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division
I am Valerie Nwanji and I am the 2022-2023 Chief DiversityEquity, and Inclusion (DEI) Fellow. I was born and raised in Silver Spring, MD. I studied Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. During my time in Baltimore, I witnessed first-hand the socioeconomic and health care inequalities among minorities. This awareness gave me a desire to use my interests in public health and medicine to help close the racial gaps within healthcare.
Kidney disease disproportionally affects minorities who often face limited access to high quality care, including home dialysis and kidney transplantation. I chose to take on the DEI Chief Fellow role to be part of the solutions to these issues that are so clearly visible in Nephrology. As the DEI Chief Fellow, I will serve an administrative role focused on improving the recruitment of minority trainees to our Fellowship, implementing a DEI curriculum that includes journal club and patient panel discussions centered on diversity and the elimination of race-based medicine, and leading health equity research and quality improvement projects focused on alleviating perceptions of racism that may improve access to CKD education and referral to transplantation so that minority patients receive the health care and treatments they deserve. I believe this Chief Fellowship program is a big first step for Nephrology to move in the direction of implementing race-conscious and patient-centered medicine, which will ultimately lead to better health outcomes for all patients.
It truly is an honor to be the inaugural DEI Chief Fellow. This position helped inspire several other Divisions within Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania to create similar DEI tracks, and I am excited to learn and work alongside the DEI fellows from other specialties who are committed to becoming DEI leaders.
Apply to the Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Fellowship Program
If you are an underrepresented minority, a disabled applicant or an applicant who is disadvantaged culturally, socially and/or economically, we strongly encourage you to apply to our fellowship program. If you have any questions or concerns about your application or eligibility, please contact:
- Dr. Amanda Leonberg-Yoo
Fellowship Program Director
Phone: 215-662-8730
Fax: 215-615-1688
Email: Amanda.Leonberg-Yoo@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
- Dr. Yuvaram Reddy
Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Phone: 267-591-8225
Fax: 215-615-1688
Email: Yuvaram.Reddy@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
- Laura Watabu
Fellowship Program Coordinator
Phone: 215-615-1677
Fax: 215-615-1688
Email: Laura.Watabu@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
- Dr. Lawrence Holzman
Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division Chief
Phone: 215-615-3793
Fax: 215-615-1688
Email: lholzman@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Diversity at the University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is dedicated to the advancement, recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities by offering various programs and resources that support these efforts, including: