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);
	Scientific career
Fields	Medicine.
Institutions	Johns Hopkins University; University of Pennsylvania; Harvard University; Albert Einstein College of Medicine

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.^[1] Ahima's research focuses on central and peripheral actions of adipocyte hormones in energy homeostasis, and glucose and lipid metabolism.^[2]^[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 in 1981. 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 and Metabolism.^[3]

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.

Awards and distinctions

Ahima was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2020,^[4]^[5] the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023, the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2005, the Association of American Physicians in 2010),^[6] the Interurban Clinical Club, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American College of Physicians, and the Obesity Society. He is a past associate editor of the journals Gastroenterology, Molecular Endocrinology, Endocrinology, and Endocrine Reviews. He was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.^[6]^[7] He is currently the editor of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Year in Diabetes and Obesity.^[8]^[9]

Publications

Ahima has more than 55,000 citations in Google Scholar and h-index of 93 ^[10]

Books

Can the Obesity Crisis Be Reversed? (2021)^[11]
Metabolic syndrome: a comprehensive textbook (Springer)
Metabolic basis of obesity (Springer)
Obesity epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment: a multidisciplinary approach (Apple/CRC)
Childhood obesity: prevalence, pathophysiology, and management (Apple/CRC)
The Year in Diabetes and Obesity (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences)_review series

Highly Cited Articles (more than 1300 citations)

2001 with CM Steppan, ST Bailey, S Bhat, EJ Brown, RR Banerjee, CM Wright, HR Patel, MA Lazar, The hormone resistin links obesity to diabetes, in: Nature. Vol. 409, nº 6818; 307–312.
1996 with D Prabakaran, C Mantzoros, D Qu, B Lowell, E Maratos-Flier, JS Flier, Role of leptin in the neuroendocrine response to fasting, in Nature. Vol. 382, nº 6588; 250–252.
2000 with JS Flier, Leptin, in Annual Review of Physiology. Vol. 62, nº 1; 413–437.
2000 with JS Flier, Adipose tissue as an endocrine organ, in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism. Vol. 11, nº 8; 327–332.
2009 with MA Hildebrandt, C Hoffman, SA Sherrill-Mix, SA Keilbaugh, M Hamady, YY Chen, R Knight, F Bushman, GD Wu, High-fat diet determines the composition of the murine gut microbiome independently of obesity, in Gastroenterology. Vol. 137, nº 5; 1716–1724.

References

^ Gisela Crespo. "Warming temperatures could mean more heat-related illnesses and new diseases, experts warn". CNN. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
^ "Rexford S. Ahima". Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
^ ^a ^b Messersmith, Julie. "Rexford Ahima named Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins", JHU Hub, Baltimore, 23 February 2016. Retrieved on 23 February 2016.
^ Wasta, Vanessa (2020-10-19). "Four from Johns Hopkins Medicine elected to the National Academy of Medicine". The Hub. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
^ "National Academy of Medicine elects 100 new members". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
^ ^a ^b "Rexford S. Ahima elected as JCI Editor in Chief". The American Society for Clinical Investigation. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
^ Ahima, Rexford S. (2022-02-01). "Ayekoo! — Well done!". The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 132 (3). doi:10.1172/JCI158278. ISSN 0021-9738. PMC 8803334. PMID 35104809.
^ "Rexford S. Ahima - Faculty Directory". Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
^ Murphy, Anar (2018-03-26). "Ann NY Acad Sci Special Issue The Year in Diabetes and Obesity". Advanced Science News. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
^ "Rexford Ahima". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
^ "Can the Obesity Crisis Be Reversed? | Johns Hopkins University Press Books". jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-11.

External links

Google Scholar Citations

[1] Gisela Crespo. "Warming temperatures could mean more heat-related illnesses and new diseases, experts warn". CNN. Retrieved 2021-03-02.

[2] "Rexford S. Ahima". Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

[:0-3] Messersmith, Julie. "Rexford Ahima named Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins", JHU Hub, Baltimore, 23 February 2016. Retrieved on 23 February 2016.

[4] Wasta, Vanessa (2020-10-19). "Four from Johns Hopkins Medicine elected to the National Academy of Medicine". The Hub. Retrieved 2020-10-19.

[5] "National Academy of Medicine elects 100 new members". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-03-02.

[:1-6] "Rexford S. Ahima elected as JCI Editor in Chief". The American Society for Clinical Investigation. Retrieved 13 June 2019.

[7] Ahima, Rexford S. (2022-02-01). "Ayekoo! — Well done!". The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 132 (3). doi:10.1172/JCI158278. ISSN 0021-9738. PMC 8803334. PMID 35104809.

[8] "Rexford S. Ahima - Faculty Directory". Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Retrieved 2021-01-21.

[9] Murphy, Anar (2018-03-26). "Ann NY Acad Sci Special Issue The Year in Diabetes and Obesity". Advanced Science News. Retrieved 2021-03-02.

[10] "Rexford Ahima". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2021-05-11.

[11] "Can the Obesity Crisis Be Reversed? | Johns Hopkins University Press Books". jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-11.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]