June Fabian, MBBCh, MPharm

Countries: Latvia, South Africa, Uganda

Dr. June Fabian is a clinician scientist specializing in the epidemiology of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Africa. She is a founding member of the African Research on Kidney Disease (ARK) Consortium, which comprises centres of research excellence in Malawi, South Africa, and Uganda, and maintains strong ties with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK. Dr. Fabian trained as an MD and specialized as a physician, followed by a subspecialty in nephrology at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

Her doctoral research was conducted at the rural SA/MRC Wits Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance site in Mpumalanga province, where she determined the population prevalence and associated risk factors for CKD. Additionally, she evaluated the performance of creatinine and cystatin C-based eGFR equations using plasma excretion of iohexol as the reference GFR. This study was the most extensive of its kind conducted in Africa, revealing that creatinine is a poor biomarker for eGFR and that the prevalence of CKD in African populations had been previously underestimated.

Dr. Fabian's findings have significant implications for both individual patient care and public health in Africa. Through the ARK Consortium, she collaborates with colleagues at VIGH to enhance the understanding of genetic risk factors related to CKD incidence and progression in African populations, while also facilitating comparative studies with different population groups in the USA.